FromSoft’s Bloodborne Spiritual Successor in the Works since 2019, Promises Innovation

Bloodborne fans have been begging for a sequel to the 2015 masterpiece for a decade now, but it looks like that won’t be happening for quite some time.

However, those who got on with Bloodborne’s art style and concept have The Duskbloods to look forward to at least, and it’s coming next year.

FromSoftware has been a little light on details since its initial reveal way back in April, but we do already know that The Duskbloods is going to be a little different than your average Miyazaki vehicle.

For starters, it’ll be designed for multiplayer gameplay from the ground up, supporting up to eight players in PvP and PvE spaces.

The idea is that these players will compete in various battles against other players and NPC-controlled enemies, with the ultimate goal of being the last one standing.

Think of it as FromSoftware’s take on the Battle Royale genre, which isn't quite what people were expecting following the gargantuan release of Elden Ring, though it makes sense considering the developer's recent multiplayer experiments via this and Elden Ring: Nightreign.

The Duskbloods official promo image from Nintendo website, FromSoftware

We have Bloodborne at home

Obviously, fans latched onto The Duskbloods thanks to its Bloodborne-like dressing and Nintendo Switch 2 exclusivity.

Many believe that a Nintendo-exclusive FromSoftware game may drive more sales towards the console, which has already been a rather big success for Nintendo in its first year.

Now, Chinese game journalist Giwin, who was a reliable source when it came to early information regarding Elden Ring, alleges that The Duskbloods has been in development since 2019.

As highlighted by FromSoftware YouTuber Ziostorm, Giwin says that more news regarding The Duskbloods should drop after the release of Elden Ring: Nightreign’s new DLC chapter.

Giwin says that The Duskbloods was greenlit “even earlier than the marketing period before Sekiro’s release”, making it in development since at least 2019.

Giwin also says that FromSoftware is including “many innovative elements” that the team is proud of, and will “provide inspiration to a lot of game developers as Sekiro did”.

The Duskbloods is currently planned to be released next year, 2026. However, a concrete release date has not been confirmed yet, and I imagine we’ll hear more about that in a future Nintendo Direct.

As for whether the game will come to other platforms beyond Switch 2, it’s looking unlikely. Nintendo is co-publishing the game worldwide, and is therefore unlikely to consider publishing it on platforms like PlayStation and Xbox.