Castle Crashers® news & patch notes

Greetings to all knights, young painters, and every Painter Boss Paradise custom character in between! We’re back today with another patch to deploy some fixes for Mac, in addition to fixing some reported issues within Painter Boss Paradise and the base Castle Crashers game. As always, let us know what you think, and don’t forget to stock up on potions before your next adventure!

Mac

• Added borderless fullscreen support.

• Fixed issue with Rich Presence not working properly.

• Now shows the default ‘pbplocal’ folder when importing skins in the Painter Boss Paradise DLC editor.

• Assigned controller push-to-talk to left analog stick similar to Windows.

• Fixed rumble on PS4 and PS5 controllers.

Painter Boss Paradise

• Scaled down Back Off Barbarian Fresh character art .

• Skeleton eyes are now purple in Back Off Barbarian.

• Fixed an issue with custom heads being flipped backwards during certain animation sequences.

• Fixed an issue with the Necromancer’s skeleton magic so that it uses Fresh art.

• Paint Jr. no longer does the eyeball emote when failing the catapult in Flower Field.

General

• Adjusted the Catfish and Cyclops attack hitboxes back to their original range

• Fixed some offset collision near the Swolien in the Alien Ship.

• Players now maintain the previously equipped item when auto-using last potion.

• Fixed an issue where the parade background would sometimes disappear.

• Fixed an old issue where the player would sometimes get stuck in a weird animation state during Rapids Ride when getting knocked off a log.

• Improved beefy kick animation.

• Removed unused DirectX files from game files.

• Fixed music pausing when exiting audio settings in an online lobby.

Community Creator Spotlight

Thanks for providing such a cute character for our team to use during testing!!! :)

This year, the big chicken asks you to consider nominating Castle Crashers for the honor of Steam's Labor of Love Award! Interested in learning some quick history about all the love we've poured into our second-ever game baby? Read on!

Where it all began: the Castle Crashers demo at Comic Con 2005!

We first shared a playable demo of Castle Crashers at San Diego Comic Con back in 2005! Running on a GameCube dev kit, this early version had slightly different designs for our four brave champions and was codenamed “Ye Olde Sidescroller.” After three years of hard work, Castle Crashers was officially released for the Xbox Live Arcade in August 2008, taking the world by storm with its hilarious animation, colorful world, and addictive beat ‘em up combat! Our co-op arcade adventure was further developed with downloadable content in the form of playable characters, weapons, and animal orbs before receiving its first port for PlayStation 3 in 2010. Two years later, Castle Crashers became our first title available on Steam, where you’re reading this post right now! Woah!

Back Off, Barbarian!

Back in 2015, we released the Barbarian Makeover on Steam, introducing the Back Off Barbarian mini game, an ultra graphics setting, and loads of bug fixes and improvements! This version was later released for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and the Nintendo Switch as Castle Crashers Remastered, with the latter receiving a physical release in 2023 – our first physical copies of any game since Alien Hominid back in the early 2000’s!

Fast forward to the first DLC in 13 years:

In August 2025, we launched the Painter Boss Paradise DLC to add a longtime requested feature to the game – custom character capabilities! Featured after the game’s iconic Painter Boss, the DLC also added a TON of new art throughout the game, quality of life updates, and a new official character in Paint Junior. Thanks to community contributions in the Castle Crashers Steam Workshop, almost 40,000 custom characters are available for DLC players to choose for their co-op adventure!

Here’s just a handful of the amazing custom knights you’ve made:

This year, we’re celebrating 17 years of crashing castles together! Thanks to your unwavering support, our (small) big chicken indie dev team continues to follow our passion of making games of all shapes and sizes for you to enjoy. If Castle Crashers has made a lasting impact on you after all these years, we’d be honored to have your nomination for this year’s Labor of Love Award! By the way, all of our games are on sale this week, including Castle Crashers at 70% off, AND we’ll be streaming tomorrow on YouTube and Twitch to celebrate our love for Castle Crashers at 2 PM PST. See you soooooon!

Happy November, knights! Can you believe it’s been three months since the release of Painter Boss Paradise? We hope you had an amazing Halloween, but it’s time to move on to a VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT we’re sure you’ve all been excitedly anticipating. Cheeks. Are. Back!!!!!

You heard that right. Alien Hominid’s butt cheeks are BACK in today’s patch, along with a myriad of updates and bug fixes for both the Global version of Castle Crashers and the Painter Boss Paradise DLC! Let's get right into it, shall we? 

Mac

• Fixed an issue with text getting cut off in the Manager menu

• Fixed an issue with vibration/rumble for controllers on Mac

• Fixed an issue with Steam Input recommended configs not working with Mac

Input

• Fixed an issue with push-to-talk key not working when there are only gamepad players

• Fixed inverted left analog stick for PS5 controllers when Steam Input is not enabled

• Fixed an issue with Steam Input not working when controller is plugged in after boot

• Added native support for PS5 DualSense controllers

Painter Boss Paradise

• Fixed an issue with re-uploaded characters not appearing in online games

• Fixed visual bug with dear Herbert’s portrait (we love you Herbert)

• Fixed various visual bugs with Fresh Beefy character art

• Added FRESH Blacksmith Beefy art

• Added new skeleton art for Necromancer projectile magic in Fresh mode

• Fixed an issue where the defeated Painter Boss body would disappear after defeating from underneath the chest

• Updated Skeleton’s portrait art

• Updated Necromancer’s Skeleton magic art

• Updated Main Menu vignettes to reflect new Skeleton art

• Fixed visual art bugs in the attract mode

Global

• Fixed some visual glitches in the Final Wizard Battle

• Fixed attack power being overridden when being hit out of tornado attack

• Fixed visual art bugs in Beefy uppercut animation

• Fixed a visual bug when grabbing chickens in the` Beefy arena

• Added SFX to shield blocking

• Implemented various text and translation fixes

• Implemented various optimizations

• Last but not least: Alien butts have been recheeked!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hopefully we never have to spend a playthrough with cheek-less buttocks ever again.

Searching for characters to download? Look no further than The Behemoth's Found Fortunes Vol. 2, a collection of recreated Castle Crashers characters for you to enjoy:

Chick-or-treat! We’re back with our annual Behemoth Halloween Art Contest, Painter Boss Paradise edition! This year, you’ll need to choose ANY character from our games, then dress them up in a costume found in the Castle Crashers Painter Boss Paradise DLC Steam Workshop.

For example, you could dress up Hatty Hattington as a BOTTLE OF RANCH, or Red Knight as a GREEN KNIGHT PLUSHIE! Three (3) winners located in the USA will receive a Skeleton Figurine and Necromancer Plushie! Winners outside of the United States will receive a Steam gift card. Entries are accepted until the end of Monday, October 27th.

For full details on how to enter, visit our blog here. 🪦

A lucky 13 years ago today, Castle Crashers landed on Steam! 🍰

This game baby of ours has seen a lot over the years, like a remaster through the Barbarian Makeover Update back in 2015, to a new DLC in 2025! Thank you to everyone who has picked up a copy (or more), told a friend about it, or left a review over the years; it truly means a lot to our small but Behemoth team and it helps us continue to Make Games!

Here's what the menu looked like way back when for a little dose of nostalgia:

Much love,

The Behemoth Team

Happy Monday, knights! How have your Painter Boss Paradise adventures been treating you? We hope you’ve been having a grand time playing as Paint Junior, creating custom knight skins for the Steam Workshop, and enjoying all the new art the DLC has to offer!

Today we have a few bug fixes to deploy, including fixes for the double/overlapped body piece and achievement tracking for Custom Characters. We appreciate your patience as we tackle these issues and thank the community members who have reported bugs to our support team!

Fixes

Join us for a Castle Crashers Painter Boss Paradise DLC stream tomorrow, August 14th, at 2:00 PM PDT on YouTube and Twitch! We'll be playing as custom characters made by YOU, the community that makes it all possible for this big chicken! See you there!!!

Why hello there, crashers of castles! Today we’re back with another small Painter Boss Paradise hotfix to address some issues with online matchmaking and properly allow Mac users to upload to the Workshop!

Fixes

1. Issued a fix for Mac users not being able to upload Custom Characters to the Steam Workshop

2. Slayed a Network Goblin causing issues with online matchmaking

We appreciate your patience as we tackle these issues and hope everyone is having an amazing time with the CCPBPDLC so far!

Good evening all knights and painters! We have a quick hotfix for two issues we ran into during today’s Painter Boss Paradise DLC launch. Our team appreciates everyone who has sent in bug reports for the following issues and hope they didn’t interfere with your DLC gameplay too much!

Fixes

1. Issued a fix for the “Game is no longer available” error in online games when no custom characters are present 2. Issued a fix for when a player character appears as someone else’s Custom Character when in an online game How are you enjoying the new Painter Boss Paradise DLC? Have you played as Princess Herbert yet? What about Pipistrello??? Let us know below, and happy castle crashing to all!

From enemies to fellow artists, today we join the Painter Boss in unleashing a FRESH new version of Castle Crashers for you to enjoy! The Painter Boss Paradise DLC includes updated art for all playable characters and weapons, a brand new official character (complete with a new magic moveset!), new map and main menu art, CUSTOM CHARACTER CAPABILITIES, and even more!!! Shall we consider this to be the Painter’s magnum opus? Only time will tell…

Don’t know where to start? Too afraid of your own creations? Have no fear! We’ve preloaded an entire crew of DLC characters created by our art team for you to try on the Steam Workshop RIGHT NOW! Take a look at some of these whimsical creatures:

We mustn’t forget about Paint Junior, the first playable character added to our official roster since Pink Knight and Blacksmith arrived back in 2011! We’ve teased his magic a bit in our DLC launch trailer (embedded below for your viewing pleasure!), so we won't spoil too much else about it here.

Looking for more Painter Boss Paradise content? You can find our complete playlist here!

Take Paint Junior out for a spin and try out the new magic for yourself in game, or create your very own custom character using this new magic moveset! Speaking of creation…

Do you have your template yet?

With the DLC template, you can design a custom character’s head, body, weapon, shield, beefy form, portrait, and Back Off Barbarian piece! To download the template and get started, check out our DLC “Three Easy Steps” guide here! PSSSST: If you upload your original character during launch week, there’s a chance we’ll feature it on our next livestream!

Our team thanks you, the community who makes it all happen for this little chicken indie studio, for the outpouring of love, excitement, and anticipation you’ve shared for the Painter Boss Paradise DLC. Your support means the world, and we are beyond excited to share this fresh version of Castle Crashers after almost 17 years of crashing castles together!

Now, it’s time! Together with Paint Junior, create your custom knight and enter a fresh new world of Castle Crashers! Find community creations to download and toggle on or off at your whim! Replace every enemy possible with Herbert and go to town! Go on now, and let your brush guide your every move!

The Castle Crashers Painter Boss Paradise DLC is now available for Steam! Check out the official announcement and trailer here, or read on to learn about all of the updates now in Castle Crashers!

Global Updates (Classic + Fresh)

The following updates are now present in the base game of Castle Crashers, in addition to the DLC version!

1. Main Menu Art

8 new background vignettes based on lore from the Castle Crashers universe have been added to the main menu! 2. Video Settings: Borderless Window Mode and Max Framerate Windows users now have access to Borderless Window Mode in Video Settings. Windows and Mac users can now set a Maximum Framerate. 3. Keyboard Settings

Magic macro binding options have been added for keyboard users. 4. Gameplay: Z-axis Hitbox

The size of the Z-axis hitbox has been increased. Your attacks will have a better chance to be "lined up"! 5. Gameplay: Health Potions

Main story solo play now has auto-heals enabled for Health Potions. 6. Green Knight Update

Green Knight is no longer allergic to all forms of juggling. What about Allergic Green Knight, you may ask? That’s a story for another time. 7. Art: Chainsaw Weapon

The Chainsaw Weapon now animates when held. WD-40!!!! 8. Art: Back Off Barbarian

All Back Off Barbarian character art has been updated. (Except Hatty because Hatty is perfect.) 9. UI and Menus

The Main Menu, Pause Menu, and Settings Menu buttons have been reorganized and updated. 10. Reset Stats Confirmation

The Reset Stats menu now has a hold-down confirmation when resetting character stats. 11. Attract Screen Update

The attract screen featuring the four base knights has been updated! 12. Steam Input Support Steam Input Support has been added, supporting more controllers and official actions when editing. 13. Enhanced Rich Presence Steam now displays player character, XP level, and bosses, in addition to area. 14. Legacy Bug Fixes Various bug fixes have been implemented to enhance your beat 'em up experience! To the community members who have sent in bug reports over the years - thank you so much from our (actually smoll) big chicken dev team!

Painter Boss Paradise DLC Updates

The following features are only present if you own the Painter Boss Paradise DLC.

1. Character: Paint Junior

A brand new official character has been added to the Castle Crashers roster, complete with a new weapon and fresh magic moveset that can also be used for Custom Character creation! 2. Art: Playable Characters

All official playable characters in the classic Castle Crashers roster have new portraits and in-game art. 3. Art: Equippable Weapons

All equippable weapons from the base game have updated art. 4. Art: World Map

The world map has been completely redesigned for fancier adventuring! 5. Painter Boss Toolkit

An entire DLC toolkit has been added to assist in Custom Character creation! To learn more about the toolkit and download the character template, please visit beh.gg/PBP. 6. Manager Menu

In the “Manager” menu, players can enable DLC characters and override existing playable characters with Custom Character skins. 7. Weapon Skins

Custom Characters can toggle their weapon to be reskinned in the Weapons Frog via the Paint Brush. The weapon skin applied is always tied to the Custom Character’s art template. Only going to the Weapon Frog and choosing a different weapon or using the Paint Brush clears the Weapon Skin. 8. Steam Workshop Capabilities

The Painter Boss DLC brings Steam Workshop capabilities to Castle Crashers for the first time ever! Publish your creations if you wish to share them with the world, or download and enable community creations! 9. Behemoth DLC Character Collection

Enjoy an entire lineup of DLC characters created by our art team, in addition to some of the classic knight designs brought to the Steam Workshop! To get started with downloading DLC creations, you can find all of our Workshop characters here. Toggle them on and off at your whim! Make every enemy in the game Herbert! Save the princess as Ladderlad! Go on, now – Painter Boss Paradise awaits!

Wondering when the Painter Boss Paradise DLC launches in your time zone? Paint Junior marked up a global release chart just for the occasion! Click on the map below to expand the image and get excited for the DLC's launch in less than a day!!!

We can't wait to see what you've COOKIN up for the Steam Workshop! See you all tomorrow!

Are you ready to create powerful characters in the Castle Crashers Painter Boss Paradise DLC? Let our video guide walk you through the process – it’s as easy as counting to three (kind of)!

Not sure what we’re talking about? Surprised that a 17-year-old game is getting DLC? What is a Painter Boss Paradise? First, gaze upon our handy screen that will greet you when you boot up Castle Crashers. From fresh new art to a brand-new official character, there’s much to discover in the Painter Boss Paradise DLC!

You can learn more about the DLC by visiting the store page right now!

Now, let’s jump into the juicy details: how to use the template to create your custom character! Feast your eyes upon our Three Easy Steps video below to learn about how it all works:

Official Template

Want to start creating your new character ahead of booting the DLC?

Click here to download the template!

While we’re on the subject, make sure to only share ONE view of your creation and never the entire template in order to keep it safely yours. Your filled-out template is your key to the Painter Boss castle; if someone else has your full template, they can technically upload your character to the Workshop and claim it as their own. Create and share with caution!

Right! While we have you gathered here, we have one more thing to announce; the Castle Crashers: Painter Boss Paradise DLC will launch on

Wednesday, August 6 at 10:00 AM PDT!

Questions? Excited for more knowledge? Peruse our handy dandy FAQ below for more information about the DLC. If your question isn't answered here, leave a comment, and we'll do our best to get back to you!

FAQ

What assets can I customize for my character?

You will be able to customize the art for your character's head, body, weapon, shield, portrait, beefy form, and Back Off Barbarian art.

How does magic work for my custom character? Can I create new magic?

You will be able to choose one magic moveset from any official playable character for your custom creation! You can not change the animations from the chosen moveset or create your own magic.

Are there any rules or guidelines for what custom content is allowed?

Like all Steam Workshop content, whatever you create is governed by the Steam Subscriber Agreement, in addition to the Steam Rules for User Generated Content. Failure to abide by these rules may result in your Workshop content being removed! That’s right, Herbert will yeet your content straight into the sunset.

I want to make (copyrighted character here), is that allowed?

Copying someone else's copyrighted work is against Steam's rules and guidelines (see above). We can't wait to see your unique creations, though!

Can someone steal my work and claim it as their own?

Yes -- if you upload a complete image of your template somewhere online, someone else can upload it to the Steam Workshop and essentially claim it as their own. This is why we suggest that you only upload a thumbnail or portion of what you have created.

If I don’t own the DLC, but someone I’m playing with does, can I use custom characters?

If you’re playing with someone who owns the DLC, you will be able to choose any characters they’ve imported and enabled from the Steam Workshop!    

Can I load custom characters from the Steam Workshop to Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo Switch?

The Painter Boss Paradise DLC is currently only available on Steam, meaning none of the DLC features are on console at this time.

Can I charge money for my creation?

No, you cannot charge others for downloading any custom characters you add to the Steam Workshop.

Are there any new levels and bosses in this DLC?

No - please refer to the "Original" versus "Fresh" graphic near the top of this post to see what features are coming in the DLC!

Click on the button below to see all the winning art, the extra honorable mentions handpicked by Dan Paladin, and our Green Knight Gallery!

Castle Crashers - 70% off!

BattleBlock Theater - 70% off!

Pit People - 60% off!

Alien Hominid HD - 25% off!

Alien Hominid Invasion - 25% off!

The Extra Terrestrial Bundle

BEHEMOTH (now with Challenge Mode!)

Big Chicken Happenings

• The Castle Crashers Painter Boss Paradise DLC releases early this summer here on Steam, featuring custom character capabilities and redrawn art for all official characters and weapons! You can add the DLC to your wishlist today!
• A Green Knight St. Patrick’s Day art contest is currently underway! Submissions are due by 11:59 PM PDT on March 17, 2025. You can find the complete contest rules and criteria on our blog here.
• Alien Hominid HD and Alien Hominid Invasion are slated for a Spring release on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5! More intel coming sooooon. 👽
• Our team is still hard at work on the BattleBlock Theater quality of life update for Steam, and we thank you for your patience as we prepare this title for its modern console release!

The Behemoth’s here to sprinkle some luck and cheer–when things are otherwise grey and drear!

Can you make Green Knight even fresher than THIS?

Prove it! 🎨

Entries are being accepted now until March 17, 2025, 11:59PM PT.

Excited for the new DLC? Us too! And you can wishlist it RIGHT NOW on Steam to be notified via email the moment it releases early this summer!

• Share your powerful characters with us in the Artwork tab of the Castle Crasher’s Community Hub! We’ll choose a few of our favorites to highlight ahead of the DLC’s release this summer.
• Watch our recent DLC development update on YouTube. We show off two new characters AND tease a redrawn game map! (There’s also a playlist of all our CCPBPDLC content here if you just want MORE.)
• Wishlist the DLC!!! This is the easiest way to support the DLC’s development, and you’ll also get notified by Steam as soon as it releases!

Castle Crashers is 90% off (again!!!) thanks to Steam's Couch Co-op Sale!

BattleBlock Theater - 70% off!

Pit People - 60% off!

Alien Hominid HD - 25% off!

Alien Hominid Invasion - 25% off!

The Extra Terrestrial Bundle

BEHEMOTH (now with Challenge Mode!)

Happy New Year, knights!

• Steam workshop capabilities – create your own knight skins, choose your magic, and share with the world!
• New official character: play as Paint Junior, use your imagination, and create powerful art to vanquish your foes!
• New player and weapon artwork for all official playable characters (with an option to toggle on or off).

Custom Characters

Main Menu Art and DLC UI Update

Castle Crashers - 90% Off

BattleBlock Theater - 70% Off

Pit People - 60% Off

Alien Hominid Invasion - 25% Off

Alien Hominid HD - 25% Off

Can’t Stop Laughing Bundle - 66% Off

The Extra Terrestrial Bundle

BEHEMOTH - our latest game!

Castle Crashers Painter Boss Paradise DLC

Castle Crashers is a BEEFY 90% OFF during the Steam Autumn Sale!

Castle Crashers - 90% Off

BEHEMOTH - our latest game!

Alien Hominid Invasion - 25% Off!

Alien Hominid HD - 25% Off!

The Extra Terrestrial Bundle

BattleBlock Theater - 70% Off

Pit People - 60% Off

Can’t Stop Laughing Bundle - 66% Off

New Merch and a Sale!

Running November 27 until December 2, get 30% off your order with the following code:

GobbleyGoop

Castle Crashers Painter Boss Paradise DLC

Wishlist it here to be notified when you can become BEHEMOTH:

• We've updated the game to use Steam's DirectX installation feature. This will help new users who are having DirectX installation issues with Win10 and Win11.

• Steam workshop capabilities – create your own knight skins, choose your magic, and share with the world!
• New official character: play as Paint Junior, use your imagination, and create powerful art to vanquish your foes!
• New player and weapon artwork for all official playable characters (with an option to toggle on or off).
• Play as ANYTHING you want in Castle Crashers! But keep in mind Steam guidelines, please. :)