Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin's PC upgrade priced

UPDATE 2ND APRIL: Upgrading to the remastered 64-bit, DirectX 11 version of Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin will cost you £20 on Steam. If you already own all the DLC you get 40 per cent off, bringing it down to £12.

If you don't already own Dark Souls 2, the remastered Scholar of the First Sin standalone release costs £30 - the same price as the 32-bit release of Scholar of the First Sin, which only bundles the DLC with a new NPC character, events, and augmented item descriptions.

ORIGINAL STORY 30TH MARCH: Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin has been priced on PC, both as a standalone package and as an upgrade for existing players.

So here's how it shakes down: There are two versions of Scholar of the First Sin on PC; one on DirectX9 and the other on DirectX11. The former is the existing version of the game with all its DLC, while the latter is basically the equivalent of the PS4 and Xbox One versions with all the new graphical updates and content that entails.

This means the DirectX11 version adds new enemy placements, fiercer foe AI, six-player multiplayer (upped from four), new weapons and armour, and the whole thing will just look nicer.

Upgrading to this version costs $19.99 (about £14) for those who already have all of the game's DLC (which this includes). Those without the DLC can upgrade for $29.99 (about £20).

Buying Scholar of the First Sin from scratch will be $49.99 (about £34) for the DirectX11 version and $39.99 (about £27) for the DirectX9 version.

Unfortunately, you will not be able to transfer your save data between the DirectX9 and DirectX11 versions.

Back in February Dark Souls 2 received a free "Scholar of the First Sin" update that added additional story elements, a few new items, and even a new ending. While this content is in Scholar of the First Sin, it's by no means a full upgrade. Rather it's just some cool stuff that's been added to all versions of Dark Souls 2 across the board.

The DirectX11 and DirectX9 versions will each have their own Steam page. The system requirements for the new DirectX11 version, due on Thursday, are as follows:

Minimum System Requirements:

• OS: Windows 7 SP1 64bit / Windows 8.1 64bit
• CPU: Intel Core i3 2100 3.1GHz / AMD A8 3870 3.6GHz
• Memory: 4GB RAM
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 / ATI Radeon HD 6870
• DirectX: 11
• Network: Broadband Internet Connection
• Hard Drive: 23GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectX11 sound device
• Controller support: Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller for Windows (or equivalent) recommended

Recommended Specifications:

• OS: Windows 7 SP1 64bit / Windows 8.1 64bit
• CPU: Intel Core i7 2600 3.4GHz / AMD FX 8150 3.6GHz or better
• Memory: 8GB RAM or better
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 (700 series) or better / ATI Radeon HD 7850 (7000 series) or better
• DirectX: 11
• Network: Broadband Internet Connection
• Hard Drive: 23GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectX11 sound device
• Controller support: Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller for Windows (or equivalent) recommended

The full details on the differences between each version can be read on Bandai Namco's Scholar of the First Sin FAQ.

For our impressions of Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin's PS4 version, Digital Foundry's Tom Morgan took a look at how the new updates enhance the game.