The unforgiving, unique blend of third-person action gameplay found in games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne has proven to be a hit with gamers worldwide. The success of Dark Souls shows that this new sub genre has a rather large audience, and this is doubly true of Bloodborne. Despite being a brand new IP and being exclusive to a single platform, Bloodborne was still able to push over 1 million units in only a short amount of time.

The success of these games, developed by From Software, has inspired others to follow suit. One of the premiere games to mimic the style of gameplay found in From Software's products is Lords of the Fallen, which features very similar gameplay, albeit along with a significantly less difficult experience. Ultimately, the game was released to mixed reviews, with some appreciating its accessibility, while others criticizing it for its lack of originality and being perhaps a little too easy (read our review).

Despite the mixed reception, Lords of the Fallen has been quite successful, especially for a new IP, selling over 900,000 units since launch. Just a month or so after its release, the developers announced a sequel, and now more details have been revealed, including information on its development as well as a release window.

Developer CI Games has announced that fans can look forward to Lords of the Fallen 2 at some point in 2017. In addition to the release window announcement, the news has broken that Deck13 Interactive, co-developers of the original title, will not be collaborating with CI Games on the sequel. Deck13 is apparently working on a new project itself, though it might not be anything to get worked up over, considering the original Lords of the Fallen was easily its most notable game to date.

Even though CI Games will not be working with Deck13 on development of Lords of the Fallen 2, that doesn't mean that other companies won't aid in the development of the game. In fact, it was revealed that CI Games actually outsourced some of the development on the original game to a number of different companies. Studio head Marek Tyminski said, "At a certain moment of time, in China, we had more than 100 artists working on Lords of the Fallen. So what you see right now from Lords of the Fallen, a lot of that was created in China."

Tyminski went on to say that CI Games has learned from their experiences with outsourcing during game development. The developer plans on using the practice not only in Lords of the Fallen 2, but in future projects as well - including Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3. However, Tyminski did not say when that particular game would be available.

The success of Lords of the Fallen shows that the style of gameplay found in From Software's games such as Dark Souls and Bloodborne has managed to break out of its original niche market, hitting the mainstream with stride. Lords of the Fallen 2 may be a couple of years off, but that should give the developers ample time to improve upon the original and deliver a better, more polished experience than the first game.

Lords of the Fallen 2 is due for release in 2017. No official platforms have been named, but smart money says that it will be available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One at the very least.

Source: IGN