V Rising gets the crossover every self-respecting vampire wants: Castlevania's Simon Belmont is coming to try and kill you

The vamp-em-up V Rising remains in early access, even though it's already pretty good, and is scheduled for its full release later in the year. Before that, though, developer Stunlock Studios has announced the crossover any pasty-faced garlic hater wants to see: Legacy of Castlevania arrives May 8, and per the teaser will let players battle Simon Belmont.

To briefly set the scene, V Rising is a game where you not only play as a vampire, but build a magnificent gothic castle in which to lounge around drinking goblets of blood. Just the kind of thing the Belmonts don't get on with, and when Simon turns up (complete with his imaginatively named weapon, Vampire Killer), "no night stalker will be safe from his righteous crusade through Vardoran."

Naturally as this is V Rising and not Castlevania, on this occasion the vampires will be able to win. Defeat Belmont and you'll unlock a new weapon for the game which is, of course, Castlevania's iconic whip, complete with a bunch of new moves and combat abilities for your character. 

Legacy of Castlevania is split between a free and a paid offering. All players get the chance to go up against Belmont and gain the whip, alongside which is a premium pack of cosmetic DLC. And here's where things start cooking with the pack focused on applying the Castlevania aesthetic to your castle, among other things: it contains decor, character customization options inspired by Castlevania characters, and a new skeletal mount. As if that wasn't enough you can set Castlevania music playing in your castle, with two classic themes reimagined by V Rising composer Aleksandria Migova.

"We're all big fans of Castlevania, so being able to actually create original Castlevania content in our game is a dream come true," says Stunlock CEO Rickard Frisegård. "I want to express a heartfelt thank you to our friends at Konami for the chance to bring Castlevania to the V Rising universe. This has been an opportunity for us to channel our love and effort for their games into this collaboration, and we look forward to you being able to experience it for yourself on May 8th!"

Rich Stanton
Senior Editor

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."

Read more
Coen in The Blood of Dawnwalker cinematic, but lightened a bit so you can actually see the man
The new RPG from Rebel Wolves, a studio founded by Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 devs, asks a bold question: What if Geralt was a vampire?
An elderly bearded man in medieval garb making a face after eating garlic
'Please remember the game has no plot': Vampire Survivors dev points out one of the many challenges in turning its roguelike into a live-action film
Fantasy RPG The Blood of Dawnwalker's protagonist, Coen, a half human half vampire being holding onto a pole and staring into the night.
The Witcher 3's director says he has designed his new vampire RPG to explore 'something in pop culture that nobody yet has done' in videogames: 'We will see how people like it'
A character from Castlevania: Nocturne Season 2
Castlevania: Nocturne Season 2 both rushes and drags, but finally arrives at its best action scenes ever
Moroi trailer still
Romanian folklore, David Lynch, and heavy metal come together in a dark fantasy hack-and-slash action game 'with an even darker sense of humor'
Blades of Fire's protagonist Aran prepares to attack with a very large sword.
Blades of Fire is a God of War-style action game coming to PC from the creators of Metroid Dread, and it's almost definitely a spiritual successor to Severance
Latest in Survival & Crafting
An Enshrouded player in a recreation of Erebor from The Lord of the Rings
Kings under the Mountain! 33 Enshrouded players spent 10,000 hours to recreate this iconic location from The Lord of the Rings
An April Fool's Day Palworld game concept about dating Pals
From Palworld movies to Palworld TV shows: 'Everyone under the sun pitched us every idea you can imagine,' says Pocketpair's communications director
Pacific Drive Endless Expeditions spring 2025 update trailer still - a sexy, tricked-out 1980s station wagon being blasted with magic healing electricity
Pacific Drive developers change their mind: A year after refusing to give it mid-run saves, it's getting mid-run saves
minecraft diamond level sword
Minecraft's never going free-to-play because as it stands it's 'the best deal in the world'
New shaders in Minecraft following Minecraft Live 2025
In the year of our lord 2025, Mojang is finally adding shaders to Minecraft, making reflective lighting and water effects more accessible for all
A dried ghast, a ghastling, and a friendly ghast all smiling
The latest Minecraft Live uncovered the tragic truth of the Nether's most bothersome mob, which has unlocked new levels of guilt
Latest in News
A girl cheering in Everybody's Golf Hot Shots.
My favourite, most underrated anime golf game series is actually getting a PC entry for the first time in its nearly 30-year history
A shock trap transformed into a Lego brick in Monster Hunter Wilds.
A modder keeps turning Monster Hunter traps into Lego bricks so that the monsters will know true pain, and they've just done it again
live action Jimbo the Jester from Balatro holding a playing card and addressing the camera
You've probably been pronouncing Balatro wrong all along, but 'it's kind of a gif/jif situation'
A late afternoon view shows two young women walking past a wall-sized anime mural along Chuo-dori (Central Avenue) in the Akihabara district (known as Electric Town for its maze of electronics stores, but currently considered an almost sacred destination by members of Japan's otaku culture, drawn to Akihabara's video game centers, maid cafes, anime shops, and manga comics), located in Chiyoda Ward in central Tokyo, Japan.
OpenAI's GPT-4o model gets image generation update for all of your anime-style selfie needs
Wuk Lamat, a character in Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail, stares in an unimpressed manner.
'I can't really say what they were thinking' says whistleblowing modder, as Final Fantasy 14's attempt to thwart stalkers falls terribly short of the mark
Raidou Kuzonoha and pals, looking like they've about to drop the most fire single of the 1930s
Raidou Remastered is finally bringing the historical Shin Megami Tensei supernatural sleuth spinoff to PC this June