MercurySteam wants to leave Castlevania, to take on Contra next

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow studio MercurySteam will be ready to leave Castlevania behind after Mirror of Fate and Lords of Shadow 2, Konami EU head of development Dave Cox tells VG247. "Well, I think it's about wanting to leave a legacy," Cox said. "And I don't want to be in charge of a series that perhaps over a certain time is going to decline. I'd rather go out with a bang and leave that as our legacy in the Castlevania universe."

Cox said he didn't want to be known as "Mr. Castlevania," nor for his team to be "the Castlevania team." Should Lords of Shadow 2 be even more successful, another team can take on the momentum.

However, Cox doesn't want to move away from the established Konami canon entirely. "I love Contra. I'd love to do Contra. At Mercury Steam we've got an original idea that I think is really awesome. We'd love to bring that idea to market and I'm hoping that the success of Lords of Shadow 2 will allow us to do that."

Konami teased a Contra revival at E3 2011, but it's unclear whether that project is the same as MercurySteam's Contra. If so, that would alter the proposed timeline a bit, as it would suggest that Cox and his team have already been working on the "awesome" idea.