Dark Souls 2 DLC Coming This Summer as a Trilogy

Dark Souls II will expand this summer with the release of three new DLC chapters, collectively called the The Lost Crowns trilogy, Bandai Namco announced today.

The first of these, Crown of the Sunken King, will launch on July 22 in the Americas. It's the only one Bandai Namco and developer From Software are sharing specifics about right now. It tasks players with recovering King Vendrick's crowns and offers "an entirely different world within the Dark Souls II universe, where stepped pyramids span a vast underground cavern."

The second DLC, Crown of the Old Iron King, will follow on August 26. The final chapter of the trilogy, Crown of the Ivory King, will land on September 24.

All of the DLC will be released on the game's three platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. They are said to each contain "entirely original areas" filled with "unknown enemies" and bosses, and will be priced at $10 a piece. Alternatively, a season pass will be available for $25 that entitles buyers to the full trilogy at a $5 discount, but for whatever reason it will only be available to PC players.

From Software producer Takeshi Miyazoe had previously claimed there were no plans for Dark Souls II DLC because the developer wanted to "deliver a full game, the full experience, to fans who purchase the package from day one." Reports later suggested that DLC was, in fact, in the works, and soon after Miyazoe began talking about the potential of releasing new content for the game. "There is definitely potential, I think," he told OXM in January. "Again, it's all about fan feedback. Right now we are concentrating on completing what we've got, but I think there are next steps on how we can expand on Dark Souls II."

Dark Souls II was released on Xbox 360 and PS3 this past March, followed by a PC release in April. It was very well received by critics--earning a 9.0 in GameSpot's review--and had shipped 1.2 million units within three weeks of release. If nothing else, this new DLC should ensure it takes players at least a little bit longer than 20 minutes to finish.

Are you happy to see new Dark Souls content coming so much sooner than we could have hoped to see a sequel, or would you have preferred From left the game as-is? Let us know in the comments.