Code Vein II Mask of Idris DLC Launches September 9 With Free Update 2.0 and Two New Partners

Bandai Namco finally locked a date for the first major piece of Code Vein II post-launch content. The Mask of Idris DLC launches worldwide on September 9, 2026, on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X, and it ships alongside a free Version 2.0 update for every owner of the base game. Both the announcement and the gameplay breakdown landed on the PlayStation Blog on August 20, with RPG Site, Bandai Namco's regional accounts, and outlets across Japan, France, Spain, and Brazil all confirming the date within minutes.

Mask of Idris is built as a separate, history-altering campaign that strands the protagonist in The Forsaken World, a fractured realm grown out of Temporal Rifts left behind every time the legendary hero Idris rewrote history. At its center pulses the Spindle of Pathos, a colossal swirl that drinks in every emotion from across time and now threatens to swallow the world the main cast is still fighting to protect. This is not a side dungeon stapled to the credits screen. It is a new map, two new partners, fresh weapons, fresh Formae, and bosses tuned to push the build system the sequel added in January.

Who you fight beside in the Forsaken World

Two new partners carry the new story, and they could not feel more different. The first is Liv Voda, the original guardian of the Temporal Rift and Valentin's older half-sister. Bandai Namco describes her as combative, bored with her duties, and visibly glowing whenever her temper spikes. She fights with a Halberd and her signature Chariot Rave Formae, an aggressive chain of lunges and evasive steps built to stagger anything in front of her. Her support Formae, Mad Blood Dance, stacks attack power on both her and the protagonist every time a hit lands, so a long combo turns into a damage multiplier. Her Linkage Trait also amplifies weapon stagger, which pairs cleanly with the new greatsword Formae.

The second partner is Lou Magmell, and the PlayStation Blog is explicit that she is not the Lou the player meets in the main campaign. This Lou is a different Revenant girl who wandered into the Forsaken World after her own tragedy, and the story peels back her history as the player progresses. Bandai Namco has not revealed her full kit yet, but the framing puts her in a support role, which makes the new duo a deliberate contrast: Liv for aggression, Lou for stability.

What is new in the combat sandbox

Two new Formae anchor the combat additions. Grave Knocker is a martial arts stance that works with every weapon type and lets the player unleash an aerial kick that drops a shockwave on landing, then expands a second shockwave to control crowds. Sword of Karma: Idris summons a greatsword wreathed in the flames of Pathos, with a long reach and a final blow that launches a wave of fire forward. Both options expand the build system that already separated Code Vein II from its predecessor, and both look tuned for the higher-health boss fights the Forsaken World is built around.

Mask of Idris is gated behind a real completion checkpoint, not a paid shortcut. Players must finish the main story, reach the Luna Fraterna ending, and clear Valentin's Request sub-mission before the new campaign unlocks. Bandai Namco is also launching a free Version 2.0 patch on the same day, which adds more post-main-game content and lets players bring their partners into the post-game world. The studio says full Version 2.0 patch notes will land later, but the headline is clear: the post-game stops feeling empty the moment this DLC drops.

How the community is reacting

Reaction so far is positive, though still narrow because the news is less than a day old. RPG Site, Twisted Voxel, GameGPU, and The Outpost all posted within an hour of the PlayStation Blog, and Bandai Namco's French account amplified the reveal with its own teaser. Japanese fans tagged the trailer with hype reactions, and the LATAM outlets that picked it up focused on the post-game accessibility. The single most common sentiment across languages is relief that the DLC is post-game content rather than a paid chapter bolted onto a half-finished base, which lines up with the Luna Fraterna ending requirement. The community has not yet had time to dig into balance, so any claims about Liv or Lou being over or under-tuned are premature.

CriticalPixel take

Code Vein II had a rough landing in January, with complaints that the build system hid its depth behind a slow first run and a quiet endgame. Mask of Idris is the right answer to those complaints. It uses the post-game Luna Fraterna state as a deliberate on-ramp, gives the player two partners with genuinely different kits instead of stat clones, and finally gives the world the boss density the combat system deserves. Free Update 2.0 doing the heavy lifting on partner exploration in the post-game world is also a smart move. It gives solo players a reason to keep their save file without forcing them into the DLC. Pricing has not been revealed yet, and Bandai Namco is still holding back the full Version 2.0 patch notes, so watch the official channels for both before launch day. If you bounced off the base game in January, this is the first reason to come back.