The Painter Boss Paradise DLC for Castle Crashers finally has a release date: August 6. However, as things stand right now, the long-time-coming Castle Crashers content drop will only be available on a single platform.
Developed by U.S. studio The Behemoth, Castle Crashers originally launched in August 2008 as an Xbox 360 exclusive, establishing itself as one of the highest-rated Xbox Live Arcade games. Over the next several years, the side-scrolling beat-em-up was ported to the PS3, Xbox One, and PC. It also received four downloadable add-ons, the most recent of which was the Blacksmith Pack, launched in August 2011. Nearly 13 years later, The Behemoth announced the game’s fifth piece of DLC, Painter Boss Paradise, in July 2024.
After well over a decade, Indie darling Castle Crashers is getting a brand new DLC, and it’s going to bring about some pretty sizable changes.
The American developer has now committed to a concrete release date for the add-on, revealing that the DLC will materialize on August 6. The news came via a new gameplay trailer, which also invites fans to start creating their very own templates that they will be able to import into Painter Boss Paradise. While the introduction of a character creator and support for user-generated content are promoted as the DLC’s main features, the functionality is built around Steam Workshop, meaning Painter Boss Paradise will be exclusive to the Steam version of Castle Crashers.
Castle Crashers: Painter Boss Paradise Availability Details
Release date: August 6, 2025, at 10am PDT / 1pm EDT / 7pm CET
Apart from characters, Painter Boss Paradise’s templates will also be usable for creating new Castle Crashers weapons. All user-generated content will be shareable through the Steam Workshop, with submissions subject to the Steam Subscriber Agreement and the platform’s User Generated Content (UGC) rules, meaning only original works will be permitted, not recreations of copyrighted designs. Non-DLC players will still be able to use Workshop content in multiplayer, so long as they are playing with someone else who owns Painter Boss Paradise. In this particular scenario, they will be limited to using the characters that the DLC owner has already imported and enabled via the Workshop.
Painter Boss Paradise will update the in-game artwork for all existing characters and weapons, while also introducing a new playable character called Paint Junior. According to the official product FAQ, the add-on will not include any new levels or bosses. The upcoming Castle Crashers DLC will retail for $3.99, which is a price point that The Behemoth already confirmed back in early 2025.
While Steam Workshop has supported paid creations since 2015, Castle Crashers players will not be able to charge money for their custom templates in Painter Boss Paradise. Regardless, the upcoming DLC promises to further extend the shelf life of a classic beat-em-up that has already defied expectations for nearly two decades.
