The Butcher's Circus pits Darkest Dungeon's grim bands against each other in PVP

The circus has come to Darkest Dungeon! Grab ye olde candy floss, ride ye olde wooden rollercoaster. Let's not bother with the clowns, there's bloodsport to be had. Upcoming DLC The Butcher's Circus is bringing grand old player-versus-player battles to Darkest Dungeon. After all, in a game about testing your luck against horrors in the dark, what could be more terrifying than taking on your fellow human being?

In Darkest Dungeon, you're normally kitting out for the long haul. Your hapless adventurers need some fight in 'em, sure, but they're also gotta hold out for the duration of a dungeon, dodging traps and scares in the bowels of the earth.

In The Butcher's Circus, though, it's kill or be killed. Darkest Dungeon's PVP DLC adds gladiatorial fights via a new location in the Hamlet. Rather than risk losing your main adventuring party to senseless bloodsport, the Circus lets you recruit a gang of professional murderfolk. These can be kitted out with their own unique gladiatorial trinkets as you climb the ranks.

Weathering the arena will lend you more options to customise your heraldry or mix up your equipment possibilities. More than anything, though, it sounds like a wild new way to engage with Darkest Dungeon. How do you build a party that doesn't have to weather chip damage and debuffs for hours at a time - instead, weathering brutally immediate damage storms for long enough to hammer back with full force?

Thankfully, it does seem like what happens in the arena stays in the arena. You probably won't need to force some sods against seasoned arena masters to make progress in Darkest Dungeon's... well, dungeons.

The Butcher's Circus is "coming soon" to Darkest Dungeon on Steam. Still no more word on that Darkest Dungeon 2 for the time being, mind. Maybe they need a light?