Lords of the Fallen II

Lords of the Fallen II is the direct sequel to the 2023 reboot, once again developed by Hexworks and published by CI Games. It's a dark-fantasy soulslike action RPG that doubles down on the series' signature hook: two overlapping worlds explored side by side —the realm of the living and the Umbral, the dimension of the dead. The story picks up a thousand years after the first game, with an Umbral that has spread and darkened, and this time the goal is to settle the score with the gods who abandoned the world.

The core hook is still the Lamp Bearer's lantern, which reveals paths, enemies and secrets that only exist in the Umbral. Rather than a separate level, the realm of the dead is layered over the living world: raise the lamp and everything shifts, opening new routes and dangers that weren't there a moment ago. Built on Unreal Engine 5, it aims for more visceral, responsive combat, with brutal executions, parries, blocks and a varied arsenal —swords, scythes, katanas, flails, crossbows—. Co-op shares progression across the entire campaign, so you can roam both realms with a partner without losing your advance.

Right now the game is in development. It was announced at Gamescom Opening Night Live in August 2025 and showed gameplay shortly after, with a launch planned for Q1 2027 —pushed back from fall 2026. It ships simultaneously on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2, the series' first appearance on a Nintendo handheld; on PC it arrives at once on Steam and the Epic Games Store. Since it's still unreleased, there's no player population, patches or post-launch roadmap yet: all of that comes with the game itself.

It's a buy-to-play title, like the original: you pay once, with no subscription and no free-to-play component. As of today CI Games hasn't announced a price or editions for the sequel; for reference, the first game launched at $59.99 on PC and $69.99 on console, with a Deluxe edition a bit above that, so expect a similar range or slightly higher. You can already wishlist it on Steam, Epic, the PlayStation Store and Xbox from the official site, but pre-orders still have no confirmed date or price. Downloadable content down the line is likely, as the original had.

If you like demanding soulslikes and the first Lords of the Fallen's two-worlds idea hooked you, this sequel is aimed squarely at you: it promises the same challenge with a formula sharpened by feedback from the original's millions of players. Hexworks says it wants to reach a broader audience without softening the difficulty, a tricky balance that remains to be seen. In fairness: this is a game that hasn't shipped yet, subject to delays, and the 2023 reboot drew criticism for its performance and for how chaotic the Umbral could get, so it's worth taking the promises with a grain of salt until it's in your hands.