Hexworks’ Lords of the Fallen is approaching its first anniversary. The 2023 successor to the 2014 game of the same name, was released on October 13th. There is already talks of a follow up or sequel coming down the pike. According to CI Games latest financial report via Eurogamer, the upcoming installment is underway, and will be a PC exclusive with the Epic Games Store. This exclusivity comes from the investment made during the production of the first game – its use of Unreal Engine 5.
Lords of the Fallen is a Soulslike action role playing game set in a unique fictional world. Instead of one land there are two: Axiom, land of the living, and Umbral, land of the dead. The two can be traversed between with the use of the Umbral Lamp, which also allows its user to be resurrected. If the player perishes in Axiom, they move to Umbral, where they must return to Axiom and reclaim their exp and gear. Conversely, if the player perishes in Umbral they are returned to the last save point, and lose all unspent exp.
The game has had mixed to positive reviews from critics, although the Steam page sits firmly at mixed. However, after the game’s release Hexworks launched series of free updates and improvements to bring the game up to its standard, a strategy currently being employed by Star Wars Outlaws. This series of changes ended with Version 1.5 “Masters of Fate” which was made available in mid April of this year. Hexworks has acknowledged the game’s less than stellar launch cycle and has worked to make good on their initial hopes of success. The process has probably been a very important learning experience. With the sequel, players should get to see all that growth from the get go.
As of now players will have to wait a bit, with Lords of the Fallen currently hoping for a 2026 release. For fans looking to check out the 2023 game, it is available for PS5, Steam, Windows, and the Xbox X/S series.