Delayed Grim Dawn Expansion, Fangs of Asterkarn, Gets an Update

Developed and published by Crate Entertainment, Fangs of Asterkarn is set to be the final expansion for action RPG Grim Dawn. First announced in August 2023, Fangs of Asterkarn has seen significant delays, mainly due to the amount of content being put into it.

Grim Dawn was released in 2016 and has seen two previous add-ons: Ashes of Malmouth and Forgotten Dawns. Fangs of Asterkarn is set to greatly expand on the game’s playable area, as well as available quests and items. Game designer Kamil “Zantai” Marczewski took to Crate’s forum recently to offer an explanation as to why everything’s taking so long.

“We wanted you to know that you should be expecting major things for Grim Dawn posthaste. Posthaste has of course turned out to be a matter of perspective, but I digress!” 

“To put things in perspective, by our current estimations, Fangs of Asterkarn will cover approximately 3.55sq. km, which makes it roughly 110% as big as Ashes of Malmouth,” Marczewski added. “Kurnhold, the de-facto capital of the Kurn and the new quest hub, spans four zones, compared to the 1.5 that the Covenant of the Three took up in Forgotten Gods.”

Diab-who?

Grim Dawn is a critically-acclaimed dark fantasy action RPG and has won awards such as the 2016 Best RPG from New Game Network, and in 2022 celebrated selling 7 million copies. It’s also often considered a “Diablo beater” by gamers, given the extensive range of character classes and overall passion from the developers.

Whereas previous expansions broadened the apocalyptic base game with a ruined city filled with deformed cultists, and a barren desert hiding eldritch terrors, Fangs of Asterkarn presents icy mountain ranges and savage werewolves. 

“Scattered across Asterkarn are 54 new bosses, including eight new Nemesis encounters. Mechanically, these bosses will feature some of the most advanced skill tech the game has had yet as we continue to push this aging engine to its absolute limits,” Marczewski said. “From these bosses, and their minions, you will be looting over 380 new Unique items and 120 Monster Infrequents.”

“All this is not even including the two roguelike dungeons we have planned post-release, which will expand the world and add another two rounds of new bosses and unique loot drops.”

The Long Road Out of (Development) Hell

Marczewski has been very candid in his regular Grim Misadventures blog posts, where he details upcoming and aborted game design ideas, in the base game and its various expansions. By his own admittance, Crate jumped the gun when it first announced Fangs of Asterkarn, but he now hopes the community can understand patience is necessary. 

“When we said we were aiming for a 2024 (release), we were admittedly a little too ambitious. This is the first time in the company’s history where we are concurrently developing four different projects, and we overestimated our own capabilities.”

The Grim Dawn community has, overall, been forgiving and believes the wait will be worth it, with forum members expressing some disappointment but also acknowledging that at least Crate is passionate about its work. 

Fangs of Asterkarn is being built in the old Titan Quest game engine created by (now defunct) Iron Lore Entertainment. Crate acquired the engine and some former Iron Lore employees before starting on Grim Dawn. 

However, as this engine is starting to show its age, Crate is developing a new one. An unnamed RTS is one the concurrent projects in development with Fangs of Asterkarn, and Crate has noted on social media that it’s using a new game engine for this, that will also be used for the Grim Dawn sequel (which is expected to start development in 2026).

As for Fangs of Asterkarn’s actual release date, Marczewski has been upfront about this: “As of now, a late Fall/Winter 2025 release is within the realm of possibility, but as the team is still very much in ‘but what if we also did…’ exploration mode, which predictably blows up schedules, we are reluctant to make firm promises. So I would not be surprised if we slip to Spring 2026, or even early Summer if we need more time to polish.”