Lords of the Fallen II: Freed From Epic Exclusivity, CI Games Secures €28.6 Million Loan for Early 2027 Launch on Steam and Switch 2
After walking away from its PC exclusivity agreement with Epic Games earlier this year, Polish publisher CI Games SE needed to show investors how it would independently bankroll the final stretch and global rollout of its most ambitious project to date. On October 30, 2026, the company answered with a decisive financial move: a €28.6 million (approximately $32 million) syndicated credit facility designed to fully fund the completion, worldwide marketing campaign, and Q1 2027 launch of Lords of the Fallen II.
Inside the €28.6 Million Credit Facility Backed by Poland's Export Agency
In an official investor relations filing released on Friday, CI Games SE detailed the structure of the syndicated term loan arranged with two major banking institutions: Erste Bank Polska and Bank Ochrony Środowiska (BOŚ). Crucially, 80% of the credit facility is backed by a guarantee from KUKE, the Polish export credit agency, giving commercial lenders strong institutional coverage.
The €28.6 million injection covers three immediate strategic priorities for CI Games and its internal development studio, Hexworks:
- Final production costs: Completing Unreal Engine 5 development, combat tuning, and multi-platform optimization.
- Global marketing and launch execution: Funding the worldwide promotional campaign leading into early 2027.
- Debt refinancing: Refinancing CI Games SE's existing bank debt under a unified structure ahead of the release window.
For shareholders on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the biggest takeaway is that the funding was secured without issuing any new shares, avoiding equity dilution entirely. Furthermore, CI Games CEO and largest shareholder Marek Tymiński formally committed to holding his entire stake in the company for the full duration of the loan, which matures in August 2027.
"We have secured full financing for the launch of Lords of the Fallen II without issuing new shares. That matters for our shareholders, who keep their full participation in the game's potential success. The banks' confidence confirms the quality of our project and its commercial potential. I know how much potential Lords of the Fallen II has, which is why I have committed to hold my entire shareholding for the full term of the financing." , Marek Tymiński, President of the Management Board of CI Games SE
Trading Epic Upfront Cash for Day-One Steam and Nintendo Switch 2 Sales
This financial package is the direct sequel to CI Games' boldest pivot of 2026. Under its original publishing arrangement, Epic Games was set to hold exclusive PC publishing rights to Lords of the Fallen II. By mutually terminating that agreement earlier this year, CI Games reclaimed full self-publishing control and unlocked the ability to launch day-and-date on Steam alongside the Epic Games Store.
Alongside PC (Steam and Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, the syndicated loan also supports the game's arrival on Nintendo Switch 2, marking the franchise's debut on a Nintendo platform. With Nintendo Switch 2 hardware sales already passing 5.54 million units in Europe alone, expanding the dark fantasy action-RPG's footprint gives CI Games a much broader addressable market to repay the facility before its August 2027 maturity date.
While players wait for pre-orders to open on the sequel,which introduces new weapon classes including katanas and scythes across new Unreal Engine 5 biomes,those looking to catch up on the 2023 reboot can compare current editions below:
Next Marketing Beats: 'Lifting the Veil' Next Week and Exact Release Date in December
Because the loan matures in August 2027 and is expected to be repaid primarily from sales of Lords of the Fallen II, CI Games is locked into its first quarter (Q1) 2027 launch window on the 2027 video game release calendar. Alongside the financial announcement, the publisher confirmed two immediate milestones for its promotional campaign:
- Early November 2026 (next week): A brand-new episode of the Lifting the Veil developer diary series featuring members of the Launch Creative Team.
- December 2026: The official announcement of the exact release date for Lords of the Fallen II, lining up squarely with The Game Awards showcase season.
My Perspective: A High-Stakes Bet That Puts Steam Players First
When CI Games walked away from its Epic Games publishing deal earlier this year, the immediate question was how a mid-sized European publisher would shoulder the final production and global marketing bill for an Unreal Engine 5 Soulslike across four platforms. Securing €28.6 million in non-dilutive bank debt,backed at 80% by Poland's export credit agency,is a remarkably clean answer.
From a player's perspective, this is the best possible outcome. Locking a hardcore Soulslike behind a PC store exclusivity wall would have severely throttled its community momentum at launch. By betting on day-one Steam availability and adding a Nintendo Switch 2 version, Marek Tymiński is putting his own shares on the line through August 2027. Now, the pressure shifts entirely to Hexworks to ensure that day-one performance is rock-solid when the gates to the Umbral realm reopen in early 2027.
Based on the outskirts of New York City, Chaya 'Chayane' spent five years studying software engineering in Montreal before returning to her home state. A Full-Stack developer and Deep Learning AI architecture researcher, she explores neural networks and algorithmic optimization while engineering data pipelines for Retrocharting and Gamescharting alongside Grimtag. A gamer for over 20 years and an avid collector of Nintendo history and The Legend of Zelda, she explored World of Warcraft's Azeroth before bringing her deep technical background to video game analysis.
