Crimson Moon Launches September 1 With Souls-Inspired Combat, Co-Op and a $19.99 Price

ProbablyMonsters will launch Crimson Moon on September 1, 2026, bringing its gothic action RPG to PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC for $19.99.

The game casts players as a Nephilim, a human-angel hybrid created to defend humanity from the forces of Hell. The fallen city of Gildenarch has been consumed by demons, undead creatures, vampires and Hellgrowth abominations, leaving the Order of the Crimson Moon as humanity’s remaining line of defence.

Crimson Moon combines Souls-inspired melee combat with a run-based structure rather than building its campaign around one continuous journey through an interconnected world.

Every hunt begins at Sanctus Clypeus, the headquarters of the Knights of the Crimson Moon. Players prepare their equipment there before choosing a destination from the War Table and entering one of Gildenarch’s Wards.

Each Ward contains multiple replayable missions with regular enemies, elite encounters, secrets, loot and mini-bosses before culminating in a major boss.

Death does not immediately erase an entire attempt.

Every run has a shared Life Pool that provides additional opportunities to continue after dying. Once those lives are exhausted, the hunt ends and players return to Sanctus Clypeus rather than travelling back into the level to recover lost equipment.

Some progression disappears with the failed run, but permanent progression remains.

Weapons, armour and trinkets discovered during successful hunts can be Purified, permanently adding them to the player’s collection. Purified equipment can then form part of the starting loadout for future missions, while favourite equipment can also be upgraded to higher rarities.

Higher difficulty settings increase both the danger and the potential rewards, including better opportunities to obtain high-rarity gear.

Crimson Moon does not use traditional character classes.

Builds instead emerge from combinations of weapons, armour, trinkets, Boons, Weapon Arts and an Angel selected before each hunt. Lore Scrolls recovered throughout Gildenarch can also be returned to historian Mereda to unlock additional Boons for future missions.

Sanctus Clypeus contains several other characters tied directly to that progression.

Gallant, the founder of the Knights of the Crimson Moon, serves as the player’s mentor and provides bounty quests. Treasure hunter Lotte sells trinkets, throwables and consumables, while vampire blacksmith Gajov can improve equipment rarity or exchange Souls for new gear.

That gives the game’s repeated hunts a wider progression loop:

prepare build → enter Ward → earn temporary power and equipment → defeat boss → purify useful gear → improve permanent arsenal → begin another hunt

I think that distinction matters because Crimson Moon looks like a conventional Soulslike at first glance, but its structure appears closer to a hybrid between a precision action RPG, a loot-driven game and a roguelite.

Players can complete the entire game alone or use two-player online co-op.

ProbablyMonsters says enemy composition and difficulty scale according to whether one or two Nephilim enter a mission, rather than making solo players tackle encounters designed exclusively around a pair.

Co-op adds its own tactical possibilities.

Partners share the pressure of the Life Pool and can revive one another, while builds can be deliberately designed around complementary effects. One player could focus heavily on offensive damage while the other prioritises survivability, crowd control or supportive Boons.

The developers have described missions as relatively focused experiences, with recent interviews putting individual gameplay loops around the 15 to 30-minute range rather than asking players to commit to hours-long sessions before making progress.

Gildenarch itself is divided into three major districts.

Completing all three districts within the larger progression structure leads to a World Boss. Three World Bosses must ultimately be defeated before the player can challenge Crimson Moon’s final boss.

Those four major encounters also receive dedicated music.

ProbablyMonsters has collaborated with HEALTH, Jared Dines, Misha Mansoor and Ricky Armellino on four original metal tracks created for the three World Boss encounters and the final battle.

The wider soundtrack is considerably larger.

Crimson Moon’s soundtrack release contains more than 30 tracks combining orchestral, choral and metal music, with performances recorded by the Nashville Recording Orchestra and Sonus Choir alongside the guest musicians.

ProbablyMonsters is also positioning Crimson Moon as a comparatively focused release rather than the foundation for an aggressive ongoing service.

The Standard Edition costs $19.99 and contains the complete base adventure. A $29.99 Deluxe Edition adds the Ceremonial Armor Set, Axe of the Gods weapon cosmetic and access to a post-launch expansion that has not yet been detailed. Standard Edition owners will be able to purchase the Deluxe upgrade separately for $10.

That future expansion is currently the only substantial paid post-launch content ProbablyMonsters has announced.

The studio’s leadership has described the project as an attempt to return to a smaller, focused game built around players’ time and money rather than creating another sprawling live-service commitment.

Crimson Moon has also been designed by developers with considerable experience elsewhere in the industry.

ProbablyMonsters founder and CEO Harold Ryan previously spent years at Bungie, while members of the Crimson Moon team include veterans with backgrounds across Xbox and major AAA development. Design director Scott Brodie has spoken about moving away from larger-scale production towards a more focused game with a lower entry price.

Early hands-on previews have consistently identified the game’s mixture of Souls-style fundamentals and faster run-based progression, although those impressions remain based on pre-release builds rather than the finished game. Players have reported familiar light and heavy attacks, blocking, parrying, dodging and weapon abilities alongside the more unusual Life Pool and permanent-loot systems.

The game also contains an Angel transformation that temporarily increases the Nephilim’s combat capability. Earlier demonstrations showed the form boosting mobility and offensive range during difficult encounters.

Crimson Moon will release simultaneously on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Steam and the Epic Games Store on September 1.

The Standard Edition costs $19.99, while the Deluxe Edition costs $29.99. ProbablyMonsters has not announced a release date for the included post-launch expansion.

We’ll have a PC review on the day of release, so make sure to look out for that.