Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire – Beast of Winter DLC Release Date Announced, Interview

Beast of Winter, the first premium DLC for Obisidan Entertainment’s pirate-themed RPG Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire will be going live August 2, 2018. The snow-covered DLC will have the players investigate a cult of entropy worshipers from the southernmost reaches of the Deadfire Archipelago. It will be accompanied by a free merchant ship “Deck of Many Things” DLC and a major 2.0 update for the base game. Here’s the official teaser trailer:

And here’s a developer livestream where Obsidian’s narrative designer Alex Scokel shares some developer insights and talks a bit about the upcoming DLC, complete with some DLC footage in the background:

And if you visit PCGamesN, you’ll find an interview with Scokel, where he talks about the DLC’s content. An excerpt:

Beast of Winter begins with a letter. You are cordially invited to an island at the very bottom of the map made home by the worshippers of Rymrgand. Rymrgand, the beast of the DLC’s title, is the god of collapse: famine, plague, and disaster. The locals call you Duskspeaker – they’ve seen the way death follows in your wake, and they’re really into it.

“The people there throw a feast in your honour,” Scokel says. “Because they respect the way that you go about messing things up.”

When asked whether Beast of Winter’s story is commentary on the player as a destructive force in the Archipelago, Scokel phrases it another way.

“There’s certainly a recognition of the destructive nature of a protagonist in an RPG,” he says. “The world spins around the player, and these cultists have recognised that and placed you within the context of their own myths.”

The cult says you’re the harbinger of the end. Frankly, they can’t wait for the cataclysm. Whether or not that’s who you want to be is a question you’re encouraged to start pondering in this DLC.