Arkane Studios and Bethesda officially announce that the hotly anticipated sequel to 2012's Dishonored is scheduled to release before the end of 2016.

Bethesda has announced that Dishonored 2 will release worldwide this November. The sequel to Arkane Studios' 2012 assassination romp was first announced at E3 last year — although a botched stream a few days earlier did spoil the surprise.

Dishonored 2 will see the return of Corvo, the disgraced protagonist of the first game who was forced to don a mask and take vengeance on those who wronged him. However, he won't be the only trained killer using a mixture of stealth and supernatural abilities to take down his targets.

The sequel sees Corvo paired with Empress Emily Kaldwin, who will be familiar to anyone who played through the first game. Years have passed since the events of Dishonored, though — she's now several years older, and possesses a range of abilities that make her every bit as deadly as the royal protector himself.

It seems that players will choose to play as either Corvo or Emily as they play through the game's campaign. We don't know how this will affect the experience — although it's confirmed in today's announcement that the story is shaped by the player's decision — but we do already know that Emily boasts different skills to Corvo.

We've known about Dishonored 2 for around a year, but many were speculating that a sequel could be in the works even before the game was announced. A remaster of the first game, which was well received by critics, led some fans to believe that the franchise might just be getting started.

However, it remains to be seen whether the game will flourish in terms of sales, given the competitive time of year that its release has been scheduled for. The first game was a critical hit, even taking home a BAFTA, but it's difficult to determine whether audiences remember the IP after four years away.

Yesterday, Infinity Ward confirmed that Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare will adopt the franchise's traditional November release window. Call of Duty and Dishonored are two very different takes on the FPS genre, but it's fair to say that the former could steal some interest away from the latter.

That said, the footage we've seen so far makes Dishonored 2 look like a very worthy sequel, and perhaps a contender for sleeper hit of the year. We're sure to hear more about this game at E3 next month, so stay tuned for all the latest about this exciting upcoming release.

Dishonored 2 is set to release for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on November 11, 2016.