Konami has said that Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse won’t be the end of the series, and you probably won’t have to wait 10 years for a new one to actually release.
While Castlevania has been arguably the most present Konami series since the release of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain – which ushered in the era where the publisher wasn’t really making games – it’s still been 12 years since the last entry, Lords of Shadow 2 (and even longer since the last traditional game). So, given there’s been such a hiatus, naturally people want to know whether this is kicking off a full-blown revival like Silent Hill has received, or just a one-off with no plans for a follow-up.
Speaking to Famitsu (with translation from Nintendo Everything), Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse producer Tsutomu Taniguchi was asked what the future of the series looks like as the new release coincides with the 40th anniversary of the original Castlevania. He explains, “Right now, we’re pouring all our energy into the release of the game before you, Belmont’s Curse,” and while getting a new game out will provide a sense of relief for him, Taniguchi notes, “if we said, ‘Okay, the next game will be out in ten years’, the whole thing is meaningless. Although I still don’t know what shape that will take.”
Taniguchi also described how Belmont’s Curse came to be, saying, “The development of this game started partly from a sense of urgency.” He explains, “the number of people actually playing Castlevania has gone down” while at the same time “the number of people who had heard of it, but never actually played had gone up.” This is presumably thanks to the popular Netflix animated series, to which Belmont’s Curse is somewhat linked, as Rose Belmont is the daughter of Castlevania 3’s Trevor and Sypha, who were the focus of the original series.
Personally, I’d like to see Konami go for a new 3D entry in the series, while letting the likes of Evil Empire handle the Metroidvania-style adventures. As much as I have total Soulslike fatigue, there’s no doubt the franchise fits the genre super well, but a Devil May Cry-style traditional action game wouldn’t go amiss either.