Evil Empire was created to develop DLC content, using Dead Cells as the base game for the Castlevania crossover concept.

The piece celebrates publishers allowing indie studios to work with dormant IPs, highlighting Belmont’s Curse as a leading example of this trend.

Benjamin Laulan, COO of Motion Twin and Evil Empire, recalls Konami’s interest arising after the skin pitch.

Evil Empire initially questioned whether Konami would approve the pitch, doubting it might be too ambitious for the publisher.

Evil Empire, a small indie studio, is handling the new Castlevania game titled Belmont’s Curse.

The team notes that asking the right questions can unlock surprising results, as Konami shifted to back the project after a skin pitch sparked discussion.

Konami gave the green light after proposing a Castlevania-themed skin for Dead Cells, which evolved into the broader Castlevania project.

Early on, both Konami and the developers regarded the Dead Cells DLC idea as potentially too ambitious.

Belmont’s Curse marks a collaboration between Evil Empire, the Motion Twin spin-off, and Konami, leveraging Castlevania IP for a DLC expansion built around Dead Cells.

The Dead Cells DLC, Return to Castlevania, became the focal project, and its development involved substantial internal doubt about greenlighting the collaboration.