Archive EntryPreservation Record

Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania Edition

Shelf markLIB-0195

Editorial StandingCatalogued · Permanent Record

2023Game

Catalog Information

Original Title: Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania Edition
Release: 2018 (Dead Cells) · 2023 (Return to Castlevania; physical edition, August 11)
Developer: Motion Twin · Evil Empire
Publisher: Maximum Entertainment
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Region: Region-free · HAC-P-ANXTX
Medium: Nintendo Switch game card · retail edition
Subjects: Roguelite · Metroidvania · Action · Dead Cells · Castlevania · Preservation

Archival Status

Custody: Permanent archive holding
Reference Copy: Nintendo Switch game card in retail case
Filed: October 5, 2026

Curator Notes

Dead Cells is Motion Twin’s roguelite action-platformer, in which the Beheaded fights through a shifting island with no checkpoints. Return to Castlevania, released March 6, 2023, brought Richter Belmont and Alucard into it, with Dracula’s castle, Castlevania weapons, and dozens of series tracks. The Return to Castlevania Edition gathers the base game with all five expansions — Rise of the Giant, The Bad Seed, Fatal Falls, The Queen and the Sea, and Return to Castlevania — and released physically on August 11, 2023, with a reversible NES-style cover. This filing opens the Dead Cells lineage and joins the Castlevania holdings.

Collection Documentation

The retained object is the physical Return to Castlevania Edition of Dead Cells for Nintendo Switch, with a reversible cover. Dedicated artifact views of the individual copy have not yet been filed; the gallery below is held open for that documentation.

Preservation Notes

Access Hardware: Nintendo Switch; compatible Nintendo Switch family hardware
Original Hardware: Nintendo Switch
Playback Compatibility: Nintendo Switch software is region-free. The retained game card is the primary access copy and runs on any Nintendo Switch console.
Preservation Concerns: Game cards are flash media; long-term charge retention, contact wear, and loss of the small card from its case are the principal risks. Any content delivered as an eShop download or update depends on Nintendo’s servers and is not preserved by the card alone.
Edition History: Dead Cells released August 7, 2018, after early access. Return to Castlevania released March 6, 2023; the physical edition (HAC-P-ANXTX) followed on August 11, 2023, holding version 3.3 with all five expansions.
Access Status: Distributed at retail by Maximum Entertainment, with a digital edition on the Nintendo eShop.

Connections

Series: Dead Cells
Editorial Record: Reserved for future critical writing in Bloodsoaked Media.

Artifact Documentation

Reference photography of the preserved copy held by Bloodsoaked Media. Each view records the edition, materials, and condition of the work in custody.

Space is reserved for official artwork verification, collection photography, scans, and supplementary archival media. Nothing is forced into the record until documentation is filed.

Stewardship History

A permanent chronology of this archival record — filed, revised, and tended over time. Entries accumulate; none are erased.

Oct 5, 2026
Collection Documentation entered
Oct 5, 2026
Connections established
Dead Cells recorded.
Oct 5, 2026
Official artwork entered
Official Nintendo Switch front cover filed under the Library accession path.
Oct 5, 2026
Curator Notes entered
Oct 5, 2026
Filed into the Library
Accessioned as LIB-0195.
Oct 5, 2026
Preservation Notes entered
Oct 5, 2026
Published to the public shelf