The Custom Difficulty mode for Dishonored 2, which will allow gamers to modify their difficulty for the game with custom sliders will enter into beta for Steam starting January 18th. After the beta phase is complete on PC and Arkane Studios gets some much needed feedback, they will launch the mode in full starting January 23rd for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

The news went live over on the official Bethesda website, where Gary Steinman, the global content lead for the studio dropped the news in a simple and fact-oriented blog post.

Steinman also revealed that in Game Update 2 will be free for everyone and you won’t have to worry about putting dime and dollars into the coffers of Bethesda in order to gain access to the Custom Difficulty. This follows in line with the first Game Update, which arrived for free back on December 19th , giving gamers an opportunity to play through Dishonored 2 once more using the Void powers of the character they didn’t play the first time around. So if you wanted to play-test Emily’s powers in your first playthrough you could stick with Emily and gain access to Corvo’s powers in your second playthrough using New Game+.

As for the Custom Difficulty settings… before you start a game you have the option of using sliders to change a variety of settings, ranging from how often enemy AI bring reinforcements to the fight, how many items you can use during combat to how effective leaning is during stealth. The idea is to offer gamers a more refined challenge when they play Dishonored 2.

What’s more is that they’re also launching an Iron Man difficulty mode with the new Custom Difficulty mode, which will allow you to play through the game with perma-death, no manual saves, and the fact that every decision you make will be final. That’s a tough pill to swallow but could make for a fascinating playthrough for those willing to take the risk.

Additionally Mission Select will also make the cut in Game Update 2, where players will be able to select the mission they want to play after having completed the game. It’s a little bit like the old Halo games where once you conquer the game you can go back and play whichever mission you wanted.

You can look for Game Update 2, along with various other tweaks, performance improvements and fixes to launch on January 23rd. If you want to play-test the Dishonored 2 update ahead of everyone else, you can opt-in through the Steam client by right-clicking on the game and choosing to participate in the beta, which goes live on January 18th.