Echoes of Aincrad Adds Mito in “Genesis Maidens” DLC This Winter

Bandai Namco Entertainment announced the “Genesis Maidens” DLC for Echoes of Aincrad during Sony’s State of Play on Thursday. A newly released video revealed the expansion, which arrives this winter.

The DLC brings Mito from the Sword Art Online: Progressive films to the action RPG, which draws on Reki Kawahara’s Sword Art Online franchise. It adds a storyline spanning new areas on Aincrad’s Floors 1–2, the Curved Sword weapon type and armor enhancement.

The game’s launches were:

• Japan, July 9: PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
• Japan, July 10: PC via Steam.
• The West, July 10: all three platforms.

Aimer performs the game’s theme song, “Live to Survive.”

Echoes of Aincrad takes place in Aincrad, the setting of the original story’s virtual MMO, also called Sword Art Online. Players become one of the 10,000 people trapped in the MMO after it becomes a death game, exploring alongside characters including Kirito and Asuna.

The game offers four editions:

• Standard Edition.
• Deluxe Edition: expansion DLC, a starter item pack and early access to “Death Game” mode.
• Ultimate Edition: everything in Deluxe, the “Unanswered//butterfly” bonus content app/special anime, a digital soundtrack, a digital artbook and an in-game armor pack.
• Aincrad Edition: exclusive to the Bandai Namco Store, with all Deluxe and Ultimate content, plus a beanie, wall scroll, patches and sticker pack.

“Death Game” mode deletes a player’s save when their character dies. Players normally unlock it after completing the game for the first time.

The bundled promotional anime special “Unanswered//butterfly” comes with the Ultimate and Premium Editions. It follows other characters during the events of the original Sword Art Online story.

Kawahara began the Sword Art Online web novel in 2001 and serialized it on his website from 2002 to 2008. Kadokawa’s Dengeki Bunko label started releasing a newly edited print version in 2009.

Volume 18, published in 2016, concluded the original website story with the “Alicization” arc. The novels continued with the entirely new “Moon Cradle” arc in 2017 and “Unital Ring” arc in 2018. The series now has 29 volumes overall.

Sword Art Online has inspired novel and manga spinoffs, a television anime with several seasons, an anime film and a proposed live-action series. Kawahara’s Sword Art Online: Progressive spinoff novels also inspired two anime films.