UDON announces Dark Souls II: Design Works

With its renowned difficulty and gripping gameplay, Dark Souls is the action-RPG franchise that gamers love to hate! While most games reward your successes, Dark Souls punishes you for your failures, making for a grueling yet intensely rewarding experience like no other. Despite most adventurers barely surviving the original game, players clamoring for more got their wish with the equally challenging sequel, Dark Souls II. Now, UDON Entertainment is also following up its hugely successful Dark Souls: Design Works art book with another equally gorgeous artwork collection – DARK SOULS II: DESIGN WORKS!

Dark Souls II: Design Works collects all the chilling and haunting fantasy artwork behind the critically-acclaimed game in a prestigious hardcover tome. Featured inside are armor and weapon designs, character concepts, enemies, locations, rough sketches, an exclusive interview with the game's creators, and more. Completing the book is a bevy of concept material from all three chapters of the game’s DLC trilogy, “The Lost Crowns”.

With Dark Souls III just announced at E3 for an early 2016 release, there’s no better time to immerse yourself in the chilling artwork behind this landmark series.

Dark Souls II: Design Works will be available in stores in October 2015. 

UDON Announces Persona 4: The Manga

When the original Persona 4 video game was released to universal acclaim in 2008, it delighted players with its engaging murder-mystery storyline, relatable characters, engaging gameplay, and stylish graphics. Persona 4 has since become a multimedia juggernaut, with a remake of the original game, three video game spin-offs, two anime adaptations, and a manga adaptation. That manga adaptation has never been available outside of Japan – until now! UDON Entertainment is proud to announce that we will begin publishing the Persona 4 manga series in English later this year!

When the small rural town of Inaba suddenly becomes the scene of a series of grisly murders, an eclectic group of high school students forms an investigation team to uncover the truth behind them and prevent more deaths. But when they discover that the murders might be connected to an urban legend about a paranormal television phenomenon called the “Midnight Channel,” a simple investigation turns into a dangerous, action-packed journey of self-discovery across two different worlds. Along the way, dark truths will shake our heroes to their very core – and help them discover an inner strength they never knew they had!

“I’ve played the Persona 4 games and I’ve seen the anime from beginning to end, and yet the manga has still offered me a fresh, new perspective on this fantastic story,” said Ash Paulsen, UDON’s Senior Editor. “It’s an experience that the games and anime can’t quite replicate, thanks to manga’s uniqueness as a storytelling medium.”

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a seasoned Persona 4 veteran or are just discovering this compelling world for the first time – the Persona 4 manga series is certain to appeal to anyone who simply enjoys murder mysteries, the paranormal, and smart storytelling dealing with existential themes. Are you ready to face your true self?

Persona 4 will be available later this year in finer comic book stores, on Amazon, and everywhere else UDON books are sold! The first volume of Persona 4 will launch in September, with future volumes releasing bi-monthly through the end of 2015 and into 2016.