Just a few hours before Lords of the Fallen 2 is set to get a reveal trailer during Gamescom’s Opening Night Live event, developer CI Games has said that the sequel is going to be “our Empire Strikes Back”. In an interview with Mp1st, creative portfolio strategist David Valjalo compared Lords of the Fallen 2 with the classic second film from the original Star Wars trilogy by noting that the upcoming title will be a darker game.
For newer generations of players that may not have grown up with the original Star Wars trilogy, Valjalo also brought up comparisons with 2008’s The Dark Knight – the second movie in the Christopher Nolan-directed Batman trilogy that started with 2005’s Batman Begins and finished up with 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises.
“We’re right on track and in the thick of it now,” said Valjalo. “The sequel is looking spectacular. I have the privilege of seeing all the juicy behind the scenes bits and pieces – art, animation, combat – and each day there’s something that just stops me in my tracks. It’s bloody, bold, brave… it’s a true sequel – it improves on the previous game but carries its spirit forward. It’s also a darker game, tonally, with a really unique setting and even higher stakes than the last game, if you can believe that. It’s our Empire Strikes Back. Or for Gen Z I suppose it’s their Dark Knight.”
The first Lords of the Fallen – itself a reboot for 2014’s Lords of the Fallen – came out back in 2023. Since then, the title has seen quite a bit of success both critically and commercially. Back in July, CI Games had confirmed that Lords of the Fallen had reached 5.5 million players since its release across PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
“Mournstead burns brighter than ever, with over 5.5 million Lampbearers worldwide,” wrote the studio on social media. “Your fierce loyalty, feedback, and passion have helped shape Lords of the Fallen into what it is today… and the exciting chapter that comes next. In light, we walk!”
After its original release, CI Games had continued to support Lords of the Fallen with plenty of post-launch content. One of the most prominent one of these was the Version 2.0 update. The studio itself referred to the update as being the Definitive Edition of the game. Among other things, the update brought with it a host of new features, including full shared progression for co-op, as well as improvements to the core combat.
Earlier this month, Lords of the Fallen also got another update, along with a permanent price cut across all platforms, bringing its price tag down to $29.99. The update brought back the Unlocked Classes feature, as well as improvements to animations throughout the game, and new rewards for the PvP mode.
The studio had referred to this continuous support for Lords of the Fallen as a strategic move back in January, noting that this kind of support helps grow the game’s player base with more copies sold, along with helping raise goodwill from the audience for future releases.
