When is the release date for Shovel Knight Dig? Answered

Yacht Club Games took the indie world by storm with 2014’s Shovel Knight. Since then, it’s supported the game with expansions and spinoffs, on top of publishing other indie games like Cyber Shadow. Next up for Yacht Club is Shovel Knight Dig, and it’s coming quite soon; here’s when this follow-up game releases.

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What is the Shovel Knight Dig release date?

Shovel Knight Dig was revealed a few years ago, but as announced in the latest trailer, it’ll finally release on Friday, September 23. It’s coming to Nintendo Switch, PC, and iOS devices, and there are price differences across those three platforms. The Switch and PC versions will both cost $24.99 USD, but PC players can get the game for 10% off as part of a launch window promotion — it’ll be available on Steam. As for the iOS version, Dig will be a free release for Apple Arcade subscribers.

The original Shovel Knight is available just about everywhere, but so far Dig is only announced for the aforementioned platforms. That may change in the future, but for now, fans will have to choose between Switch, PC via Steam, and Apple Arcade.

How is Shovel Knight Dig different from Shovel Knight?

Last year’s Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon was a solid spinoff, but Shovel Knight Dig is closer to a proper sequel to original game. The team once said that a Shovel Knight 2 would happen someday, but until that announcement comes, Dig is the closest thing we have. Mechanically, however, it plays very differently from the first game.

For one, levels are procedurally generated (versus the bespoke platforming stages of Shovel Knight 2014). Shovel Knight will have to ‘dig’ deeper into each stage until they reach a boss battle, another signature of the series. Original Shovel Knight had the Order of No Quarter, and Dig has a new team of villains called the Hexcavators. There are some familiar faces among these foes: redesigns of Tinker Knight and Mole Knight are shown on Yacht Club’s website, and Scrap Knight first appeared in Pocket Dungeon.