In a press release Capcom announced:

"Following the announcement of Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen last year we are now pleased to confirm concrete details about this expansion to the world of Dragon's Dogma. Scheduled for release on both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 from April 23 in North America and April 26 across Europe, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen is the next exciting chapter in the Dragon's Dogma franchise. Coming both on a physical disc and as a full game digital download, the title delivers a huge brand new area, missions, enemies and more, plus all of the content from the original game.

Just off the Gransys mainland is the cursed Bitterblack Isle and it is here that gamers will discover an underground realm, complete with new terrifying foes to face and incredible treasure to find as they embark on an all new quest. Owners of the original Dragon's Dogma will be able to export their existing characters and all other saved data, to continue their journey as the Arisen and face this new threat that has emerged from the cavernous depths. Players will be able to take their characters to new heights, with brand new high-level skills and augments as well as all new weapons and armour sets. For those that missed Dragon's Dogma the first time around, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen provides the opportunity to start their journey from the very beginning before tackling the all new content.

Furthermore, owners of the original Dragon's Dogma will receive the following for free on purchasing Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen: 100,000 Rift Crystals, unlimited Ferrystones and the Gransys Armour Pack consisting of six brand new costumes.

Based on player feedback, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen will make the Dragon's Dogma gameplay experience even more satisfying, with improvements such as easier travel and a more intuitive menu system. For those who already own Dragon's Dogma and then purchase Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, these improvements will be automatically retrofitted to their original game.

So, what does Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen deliver?

All of the content from the original Dragon's Dogma plus;

A massive new underground realm to explore featuring over 25 terrifying new enemies

More skills/equipment/augments:

o Level 3 Skills

- DD:DA provides each character class with a new tier of skills, giving players new devastating abilities and skills to master

o Over 100 pieces of new equipment

- All new high level weapons and armor sets for players venturing into the underground caverns.

o 14 new character/Pawn augments

o New tiers of equipment enhancement

And there's more:

o Increased character customisation options

o Item appraisal

o Option to select Japanese voice over

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen will be available for purchase across Europe as follows:

April 26: PlayStation 3 both disc and digital versions, with the digital version priced at 29.99euros/£19.99

April 26: Xbox 360 disc based version (with a digital version to follow as a Games on Demand title in the Summer)"