Over the course of the campaign we've gotten a steady flow of requests from people who were interested in a DRM-free version of Bloodstained. Today we have good news: We're teaming up with GOG.com, some of the best people in the DRM-free business, to make it happen.

If you haven't used their site before, GOG is an independent online store that sells fully DRM-free games, with a catalog of more than 1000 titles dating back to 1981.

But for us the really exciting part is that, thanks to their new optional gaming platform, GOG Galaxy, we'll be able to offer the beta version to GOG backers at $60 or above. GOG Galaxy offers time tracking, automatic updates, friends lists, and multiplayer features—but only if you want to use them.

Selecting the GOG version of the game will be simple: If your tier includes a copy of the game, whether it's digital or physical, you'll be able to choose between these platforms (so far!) when the survey comes:

GOG

Steam

PS4

XB1

Wii U

Like the Steam version, GOG downloads will be available for Mac, Windows, and Linux, and a beta version will be available for backers at $60 or above.

We'll cede the floor to GOG for a minute:

“We’re huge fans of the Castlevania series, so when we heard that Koji Igarashi was returning to the genre we knew that we wanted to work with him and the team.

"We're excited to announce that we’ll be partnering with IGA and Inti Creates to bring Bloodstained DRM-free, complete with our signature customer love, to backers and the wider gaming community.”

Thanks again to them for helping to make this possible!

This week we wanted to give you a bit of insight into Miriam’s stained glass infection, courtesy of Natsume-san. IGA kindly stepped in to offer some explanation, which—as always—is subject to change...

IGA: This is Miriam shortly after waking up from the coma that had left her frozen in time. Now that time is ticking once more, the crystal in her chest begins to glow red, signaling the reactivation of the curse that threatens to overtake her body.

Enochian glyphs suppress the spread of the curse.

When the crystals overtake Miriam, she glows red and her magic powers spike to dangerously high levels. The crystallization on her back grows to maximum size and radiates a cross, at which point the curse becomes unstoppable. Could Miriam end up suffering the same fate as Gebel?

As usual, the flood of fan art continues unabated. Here are some of our favorite pieces:

by Strider-Hyriu





by jadenkaiba

Mike Riiven

Last week you opened up your hearts and minds (and sketchbooks), exceeding your goal of 25 comics. This week we're holding your feet to the fire by requesting 25 more -- this time about the backstory of Miriam and her curse by June 8th. (Hopefully Natsume's concept art from this update will help!) Tag them #IGAVANIA on Tumblr so that we can count them toward your next achievement!

As always, you can find the latest Bloodstained fanworks—along with updates on achievements and stretch goals—at our official Tumblr.

With the latest Paypal total - roughly $80k from 1,000 backers - you've unlocked Asynchronous Multiplayer (which we spoke about in Update 14), and the Vita is not far behind. Your torch now throws light on a new Stretch Goal: Orchestrated Music at $3.75mm.

Yamane and Yamada are thrilled to see this goal on the horizon, as it will enable them to have some of their compositions performed and recorded by a live, professional orchestra! These tracks will, of course, end up in the game, not to mention on the soundtrack.

We'll have more details when you cross that threshold! Speaking of which: We noticed you just unlocked the Glove of Jesting! We'll be talking a little more about that in Friday's updated.