Dark Souls 2 is scheduling your death for March 11, 2014 in North America, March 14 in Europe, and March 13 in Japan. Those dates apply to PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, while PC players must wait until "shortly thereafter," according to Namco Bandai. A spokesperson told us the extra time will allow the game to "fully capture all the necessary specs" for the PC audience.

Namco also unveiled the sadistic sequel's Collector Edition, should you choose to spend lavishly on your demise. Along with the game disc, the CE bundles in a 12 inch figurine, the soundtrack, an art book and a cloth map. If you'd just prefer to pre-order, you still get the bonus of a tin case housing the game along with the soundtrack.

The news comes ahead of the Dark Souls 2 beta, launching on October 12. We took the beta for an early spin at Namco's Tokyo headquarters - more on that later this week - and we also chatted with director Yui Tanimura about all things Souls, including what developer From Software hopes to learn from the Dark Souls 2 beta, and how the franchise could benefit from next-gen tech.