Southend Interactive and publisher Deep Silver have officially announced Sacred Citadel, the next entry in the Sacred series that will serve as a prologue to Sacred 3, which is being developed at Keen Games.

Unlike the original Sacred games, Citadel is a multiplayer side-scrolling action brawler with drop-in/drop-out co-op for up to three players with several characters to choose such as the Safiri Warrior, the Ancarian Ranger and the Khukuri Shaman. Players will be able to earn money and spend it on upgrades for their fighters, who can also use mounts and war machines to their advantage. Their enemies are Grimmocs, Orc henchmen modified by Lord Ashen to help him enslave the world of Ancaria.

Sacred Citadel is set for release in 2013 on Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and PC.