Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement Delayed to 2027 as Development Enters Final Stages
Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement will not arrive in 2026. Developer ArtPlay and producer Koji Igarashi have pushed the game's launch to 2027, announcing the delay in a development update video published on the game's official Facebook page on 26 August 2026. VG247
Igarashi, the veteran game designer best known for shaping the Castlevania series during his years at Konami, told fans that development has entered its final stages. The extra time is meant to let the team polish what remains rather than rush it across the finish line. Alongside the update, new screenshots from the game were released — a small consolation, but a signal that the project is far from stalled. Gematsu
The Scarlet Engagement was announced in June 2025 as a new entry in the Bloodstained franchise, a series born from a 2015 Kickstarter campaign that raised over US$5.5 million from fans eager for Igarashi's return to the side-scrolling, exploration-driven action genre he helped define. The new game is set to feature dual protagonists — Leonard Brandon and Alexander Kyteler — and is planned for release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series platforms, with the official website confirming it will launch across all platforms in 2027. RPG Site
The game's website also notes that the team plans to showcase more of The Scarlet Engagement between now and launch, starting with the delay announcement itself — so players can expect a steadier drip of information in the coming months. PlayBloodstained
The delay comes in a year that has already been difficult for the Bloodstained community. Shutaro Iida, a veteran of both Castlevania and Bloodstained who served as a programmer and director across multiple titles in both series, died in February 2026 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Iida's contributions to the genre spanned decades, and his loss was felt deeply among fans and colleagues alike. VG247
For fans of the series, the delay is disappointing but not unusual. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, the first game in the franchise, itself faced multiple delays before its 2019 release and went on to sell over one million copies. A moved release date is a production fact: the team needs more time, and they have taken it. The promise of new footage and screenshots suggests that 2027 will bring something closer to the vision Igarashi and his team have been working toward — just a little later than planned.
