Darkest Dungeon Welcomes New Expansion from a Dark Souls Veteran

Red Hook Studios’ 2016 roguelike RPG, Darkest Dungeon, challenged players to confront the sanity of their Dungeons & Dragons characters by highlighting the mental and physical toll on adventurers battling cultists and grotesque creatures in the depths. Following the punishing gameplay, a sequel launched in 2023, and now the studio is set to release new DLC for the original game on August 18. Fans can also look forward to a crowdfunding campaign starting in October aimed at funding the next expansion of Darkest Dungeon, bringing even more heroes into the fray against unspeakable horrors.

In an exciting development, a series of canonical graphic novels will be published, expanding the lore of the game. Players will delve into a narrative where they strive to thwart an ancient evil unleashed by their ancestor’s quest for knowledge and power. Horror writer John Lees and artist Maan House, known for their work on Titan Comics’ adaptation of Dark Souls, are collaborating with Chris Bourassa, the creative director and co-founder of Red Hook Studios, to bring this series to life.

“I learned to draw from studying the carefully crafted panels of the Bronze Age Batman books, and later, the exuberant splash pages of the Image Comics revolution,” Bourassa shared. “Darkest Dungeon was born from a deep love of this medium, and from day one, I’ve always dreamed of seeing it on the page.”

The crowdfunding campaign will offer rewards for both comic collectors and fans of the game who may not be familiar with graphic novels. The aim is to introduce new readers to the game’s dark universe and its characters while providing long-time fans with deeper insights into its mysteries.

“When I got to know Chris Bourassa, I learned that X-Men was one of his biggest inspirations, and suddenly it all clicked: Inside the grueling and grim (but often wickedly funny) world of Darkest Dungeon, there was comic book DNA,” said Vault’s chief creative officer Adrian Wassel. “Now we get to tell a new story — with the heroes everyone knows — in the comic book medium that’s been swirling around inside the game’s blood this whole time.”

The highly requested feature is real, though details remain sparse.