FromSoftware’s announcement of The Duskbloods, a new game that is both a spiritual successor to Bloodborne and will be a Switch 2-exclusive release, was one of the biggest surprises of Nintendo’s Switch 2 Direct.
Although the game is not a direct sequel to Bloodborne (most likely due to Sony’s ownership of the intellectual property), the connections between the two games are obvious – a gothic Victorian setting, theming centered around blood and the moon, and the presence of firearms as offhand weapons all indicate that this will be Bloodborne 2 in all but name.
On April 4, Nintendo posted a Creator’s Voice article on its website where game director Hidetaka Miyazaki revealed more details about the game. According to Miyazaki, The Duskbloods will be “a PvPvE title…with both player vs player and player vs enemy gameplay.” Players will be placed in an arena and given a certain victory condition, and whichever player best fulfills the victory condition will be declared the winner.
Miyazaki gave a few examples of general scenarios (last player standing, teaming up to defeat a boss), but did not elaborate on specific victory conditions, or how they are chosen. Players can also choose roles to play, each with their own secondary victory conditions which will affect the overall outcome of a match.
Based on this description, it sounds like the game will be a more condensed version of the faction-based online multiplayer seen in Elden Ring and the Dark Souls series, where players will have some control over the balance between PvP and PvE in their play.
The reception to The Duskbloods announcement has been somewhat mixed. The comment section on the announcement trailer from Nintendo’s YouTube channel is filled with fans gleefully celebrating the arrival of legally distinct Bloodborne 2, but just as many comments express dismay that the game will be another console exclusive. Meanwhile, commenters on some the top Duskbloods discussion posts on Reddit primarily lament the fact that it will be an online multiplayer game rather than a single player experience.
This multiplayer complaint is an interesting one. Between The Duskbloods and the upcoming online co-op-focused Elden Ring Nightreign, FromSoftware appears to be very interested in becoming a strong presence in the multiplayer space. Miyazaki assures readers that the company still intends to make more single-player games in the future, but for at least the next few years, FromSoftware fans will have to content themselves with these multiplayer-only titles.
I expect Elden Ring Nightreign will sell fairly well due to the Elden Ring name association and the wider availability of a multi-platform release. However, I have less confidence in The Duskbloods. The double-whammy of being another multiplayer-only game while also being exclusive to a brand-new game console will likely be a significant deterrent for many players.
Regardless of how the games perform, FromSoftware has a knack for taking the successful parts of its less conventional games and incorporating them into later releases. It will be interesting to see what lessons the company learns from this experimental phase.
How do you feel about FromSoftware’s foray into multiplayer-only games? Is it a cynical attempt to hop on the live-service gravy train, or an earnest attempt to experiment with different gameplay modes? Head on over to our Discord and let us know your thoughts!
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