Dark Souls 2 Cut Coliseum Level Revealed by Dataminer

Ever wonder what Dark Souls 2 could have looked like if development had gone a little smoother? A dataminer just gave us a peek at a massive coliseum level that never made it into the final game.

The dataminer, known as Doneda, has been digging through Dark Souls 2's files and showing off what they find. This time, they used Elden Ring Nightreign to load in and explore the remnants of an early prototype coliseum zone. The files also contain mines, a strange underground tower (possibly a sequence of arenas like Nightreign's DLC?), and a crypt portion. Some of these areas seem to have been part of an interconnected zone, while others might be different versions of the same idea. It's possible the crypt section was related to what eventually became the Undead Crypt.

Doneda isn't new to this. They've previously made a Nightreign-compatible version of Dark Souls 2's Eleum Loyce and shown off an ambitious early version of The Gutter. So when they say there's cut content, it's worth paying attention.

It's not shocking that Dark Souls 2 has so much leftover stuff in its files. The game had a notoriously tough development. Hidetaka Miyazaki was focused on Bloodborne, so Dark Souls 2 tried a new combat feel and hit detection system that was divisive. Early trailers and cut content suggest major story rewrites, and the final game's lighting was significantly downgraded from what was shown early on—which caused a big backlash back in 2014. Even among the pre-Sekiro Souls games, which all had rushed cycles, Dark Souls 2 had it rough.

Looking at the sheer scale of this coliseum, it's hard not to feel a little wistful for the versions of Dark Souls 2 we never got. But honestly, it's a small miracle the game came together as well as it did. Where this complex was supposed to fit in the story is anyone's guess, and we'll probably never get a full accounting of it.

What do you think? Would you have liked to explore this coliseum in the final game? Let us know in the comments!