is a 2019 action-adventure game developed and published by Capcom. The game is the sixth installment overall and the fifth mainline installment in the Devil May Cry series. The plot follows returning protagonists Nero and Dante as they are hired by a mysterious stranger named V to stop the Demon King Urizen. Players control Nero, Dante and V, who each feature a different playstyle.
Devil May Cry 5 was directed by Hideaki Itsuno whose goal was for this installment to be his best work. He aimed to balance the game for newcomers and returning gamers by providing various difficulties and challenges. Capcom also wanted to bring a more realistic design inspired by the RE Engine used in their previous work, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. As a result, real-life people were used to make the character's faces. The story was written by returning writer Bingo Morihashi while the setting was based on various locations in London. Multiple composers worked together to produce the game's audio, creating three main themes centered around the playable characters.
Devil May Cry 5 was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on 8 March 2019. The game received positive reviews from critics, who praised the gameplay, specifically the variety of techniques the three characters bring, as well as the handling of the narrative. It won several awards, and sold over two million units in less than two weeks after its release, which increased to 14.24 million units as of June 2026, making it the best-selling game in the franchise. A light novel and manga related to the game have also been released. An expanded version called was released as a launch title for Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 in November 2020, featuring the addition of Vergil as a playable character. For players on PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, Vergil was released as paid downloadable content. An Amazon Luna port was released on 9 December 2021. A Nintendo Switch 2 version titled Devil May Cry 5: Devil Hunter Edition was announced on June 9, 2026 and was released on June 23, 2026.
Gameplay
The gameplay features the return of Dante and Nero as playable characters, along with a new character, named V. The gameplay is similar to that of the other titles in the Devil May Cry series, focusing on fast-paced "stylish action"; the player fights off hordes of demons with a variety of attacks and weapons. They receive a style rating for combat based on several factors, such as move variety, the length of a combo, and dodging attacks. The game's music changes based on the player's performance in combat. Every time the player interacts with the mechanic Nico or finds a statue, they can buy new abilities for each character. While there are three playable characters, the game forces the player to use only one per mission. Like previous games, this title has a Bloody Palace mode where players can face multiple types of demons in a single area.
The first character is Nero, introduced in Devil May Cry 4. He retains his Red Queen sword for melee combat and the Blue Rose double-barreled revolver. However, he does not have his Devil Bringer from the beginning. Instead, he now has an assortment of new robotic arms called Devil Breakers. These have various functions, such as grabbing enemies from a distance or stopping time to freeze an enemy in place. Nero can also find Devil Breakers during stages. Devil Breakers are powerful but fragile and can be destroyed if misused. Late in the story, Nero regains his Devil Bringer and has access to a super-powered state known as the Devil Trigger, which allows him to transform into a demonic form and expand his combat skills.
Dante plays like his Devil May Cry 4 portrayal as he can change between four styles to create new techniques or parry enemy attacks. Along with his signature blade "Rebellion" and the Demonic "Devil Sword Sparda", Dante uses three new Devil Arms, a pair of buzzsaw-like weapons that combine into a motorcycle called "Cavaliere", and a set of fiery gauntlets and boots called "Balrog". Dante also wields "King Cerberus", a stronger version of the "Cerberus" nunchaku introduced in Devil May Cry 3. He also wears the "Dr. Faust", a hat that expends Red orbs to attack; forcing the player to consider risk versus rewards in combat. Dante can also use both the "Kalina Ann" rocket launcher from Devil May Cry 3 and the new enhanced "Kalina Ann 2," or both at once. Besides the Devil Trigger that enhances Dante's abilities and gradually restores his health, the character also possesses a more powerful form named "Sin Devil Trigger" which enables new means of attack.
The third playable character is V, who primarily summons his three demon familiars to fight. These include Griffon, an eagle that uses ranged lightning-based attacks; Shadow, a panther that forms blades, spikes, and portals out of its body; and Nightmare, a large and powerful golem. V enters a Devil Trigger-like state, which turns his hair white, to summon Nightmare, which uses a combination of melee attacks and explosive laser beams. V's familiars are incapable of killing enemies; once their health bar turns light purple, V can use his cane to destroy them with a final blow.
Vergil reappears as a playable character in the game's Special Edition, carrying over his playstyle from the fourth game's Special Edition, including the Concentration gauge mechanic and weaponry. However, the Force Edge from previous Special Edition games is replaced with Mirage Edge, an ethereal sword that Vergil usually uses as a projectile summon. He has a new ability, which allows him to turn into V and gather his trio of demonic familiars to perform a variety of devastating attacks. Instead of transforming into his regular Devil Trigger form, Vergil immediately transforms into his Sin Devil Trigger form. His original Devil Trigger is now replaced with Doppelganger, a summoned spectral copy of his Sin Devil Trigger form which mirrors Vergil's attacks while using the Yamato; which was a mechanic introduced in Devil May Cry 3 as Dante's Doppelganger Style, then reintroduced as the Devil Trigger ability for Vergil in DmC: Devil May Cry reboot.
Plot
Following the events of Devil May Cry 4, Nero works as a demon hunter for Dante's Devil May Cry agency along with his friend, gunsmith Nico Goldstein. One afternoon, Nero is working at the agency when a hooded man enters. Nero offers the stranger food when he suddenly rips off his demonic Devil Bringer arm, which transforms into the Yamato sword. The stranger uses the sword to open a portal and departs.
Three days later, a mysterious man named V hires Dante and his crew to take down a powerful demon named Urizen. The group travels to Red Grave City, where they find a demonic tree called Qliphoth planted in the city, killing people for their blood. Nero, working on his own, is also pinpointed toward Urizen by V. Dante's crew confronts Urizen but, empowered by the Qliphoth, the new demon king incapacitates them and overpowers Nero when he intervenes. Dante stops Urizen from capturing Nero but is defeated and ejected from the Qliphoth with his sword Rebellion shattered. His allies Lady and Trish are captured to be used as demon-cores while V convinces the weakened Nero to escape.
One month later, Nero returns to Red Grave outfitted with the "Devil Breaker" prosthetic arm, made by Nico. Nero meets up with V, who is seeking Qliphoth for its fruit—born of condensed human blood—which makes whoever consumes it the king of the Underworld. As the pair destroy the Qliphoth's roots while searching for Dante, Nero rescues Lady while V splits off to discover the Devil Sword Sparda—along with a comatose Dante, whose presence was hidden by the sword.
After awakening from his coma, Dante frees Trish and begins fighting his way to Urizen. Trish learns from V that Urizen is the demon-side of Dante's brother Vergil, who used Yamato's power to separate his demon and human halves - the latter manifesting as V, whose body is rapidly breaking down. Realizing Yamato has the capability of separating humanity and the devil, Dante questions whether his Rebellion also has a hidden potential, believing both legacy weapons have incredible powers on their own. After stabbing himself with his broken Rebellion, Dante unlocks his full demonic power and a new weapon, the "Devil Sword Dante," by absorbing Rebellion and the Devil Sword Sparda into his body. Nero attempts to confront Urizen again and is overpowered once more, but Dante rescues him and gains the upper hand with his new powers. Urizen takes his leave when the Qliphoth bears fruit and consumes it to empower himself further. While Dante arrives first to face Urizen, Nero rescues V from the demon Malphas and learns of Dante's history with Vergil. Nero and V reach Dante just as he defeats Urizen, but a dying V intervenes and merges with Urizen before Dante can finish him, restoring Vergil.
Vergil returns to the top of the Qliphoth, telling Dante to recover his full strength before they battle again. Nero insists on going after Vergil himself, but Dante reveals that Vergil is Nero's father, and refuses to let Nero kill him. Dante then faces V's familiars—revealed as the embodied memories of Vergil's time as Nelo Angelo—and they elect to die by Dante's hand to lessen Vergil's trauma.
Dante and Vergil fight again, where Vergil learns Nero is his unintended son. Nero settles his emotions in a phone call to Kyrie and resolves not to let his father and uncle die, fully awakening his demonic powers and regrowing his arm. Intervening in their fight and forcing Dante out, Nero vows to end the pair's sibling rivalry and defeats Vergil, who gives Nero V's book as a memento. Vergil joins Dante in a one-way trip to the Underworld to cut the Qliphoth down and seal the portal connecting it before it rips Red Grave City apart and merges the Demon World with the Human World, with Nero departing as the Qliphoth falls.
Weeks later, Trish and Lady are hired for a new job by Dante's agent, Morrison, whom Dante left in charge of his office. Nero and Nico return to work, the former armed with both Devil Breakers and his new devil abilities. In the Underworld, Dante and Vergil continue sparring as they fight demons together, now friendly rivals instead of enemies.
Development
In 2013, Hideaki Itsuno, director of the Devil May Cry games since the second game, showed an interest in continuing the original Devil May Cry series by developing a fifth installment. It was originally thought the series might go on hiatus or end for good if Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition was not a commercial success. However, in an interview with GameSpot, Itsuno confirmed this was not the case. He alleviated these fears by confirming that Capcom was ultimately satisfied with the final sales figures of Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition and DmC: Devil May Cry. In January 2016, Itsuno tweeted that he was working on a project well in development which could not yet be announced. In March, Reuben Langdon and Johnny Yong Bosch, who had done voice acting and motion capture for Dante and Nero respectively in Devil May Cry 4, took pictures of themselves in motion capture gear, leading to speculation that a new Devil May Cry game was in development. In a response on Twitter about these speculations, Capcom Vancouver stated: "It's not a game that we've announced that we're working on at this studio." On 17 May 2018, the domain name "DevilMayCry5.com" was registered by an unknown entity under Capcom's Onamae domain register. Devil May Cry 5 was confirmed at E3 2018 for a release the following year.E3 2018: Devil May Cry 5 Confirmed At Xbox One Press Conference , GameSpot Capcom confirmed a release date of March 2019 and a demo was playable in August 2018 at Gamescom. It was later made available on PlayStation Store and Xbox Live.