After ending development on Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem and shuttering its online servers in 2024, Wolcen Studio seemed to be done with its namesake franchise, but you would be wrong. The French developer has now announced work on Wolcen 2, a sequel to Lords of Mayhem arriving to Steam early access in 2027.
The developers have posted both a formal announcement and a community FAQ on Steam. Like its predecessor, Wolcen 2 promises a dark fantasy setting, deep classless character building, brutal action, up to four player co-op play, and lots of loot. Players take on the role of the son of the shadow god and unleash their Shadow Form to save reality in a world on the brink.
The developers acknowledge the less than ideal end of the first game and that fans may be skeptical of its sequel. They describe the original Wolcen as commercially successful but built on a tech base that was unsustainable for long term development without a total rebuild. Wolcen 2 is being built with Unreal Engine 5, which the studio claims will allow for more sustainable long-term development. The devs also acknowledge poor communication and promise “community-driven development” this time around.
Alpha testing for Wolcen 2 is currently underway; interested parties can apply via the Wolcen Studio website. Wolcen 2 is scheduled for an early access launch at some point next year, and players of the original game are promised they will receive unspecified in-game rewards for their loyalty.
As it happens, I covered Wolcen in MOP’s Not So Massively column, initially praising it before growing frustrated with its slow content rollout and unfinished story and ultimately declaring its final major patch “one of online gaming’s all-time worst blunders.”
