The Duskbloods was arguably one of the biggest surprises in the recent massive Nintendo Switch 2 Direct. Though many initially saw it as a spiritual successor to Bloodborne – much in how Dark Souls effectively was Demon’s Souls 2 – this impression has shifted now that we’ve learned a lot more about it.
The Duskbloods is not Bloodborne 2. In fact, it’s not even the solitary, single-player experience that FromSoftware fans have come to expect from the studio.
In a new interview with game director Hidetaka Miyazaki, we got a lot more information about how this idea came to life, as well as some of the goals FromSoftware has with The Duskbloods. According to the veteran director, the game started out as a Switch title, before development shifted to the Switch 2.
FromSoft obviously isn’t entirely new to online multiplayer; most of the studio’s games offer online co-op and PvP, and the upcoming Elden Ring Nightreign is an online-only co-op game. The Duskbloods, however, doesn’t neatly fit into either of those boxes.
Miyazaki noted that the team had been experimenting for a while with a way to meld its world-class enemy and encounter design with co-op and PvP more directly. The Bloodsworn – the game’s protagonist/player characters – are all competing for First Blood because of the power it holds.
The game has a flow that anyone who played battle royale games should be familiar with. Eight players spawn in a hub area, which is where they get to pick from pre-made classes, customise their character and join the match. Players spawn at random locations in the game’s various maps, which Miyazaki said depict various eras of humanity.
Win or lose, all players will return to the hub with some unspecified rewards to grow their characters and get back in. Oh, and the cute rat seen at the very end of the trailer is the game’s version of the Fire Keeper. It’s actually an “elderly gentleman,” FromSoft just wanted to make “something cute for a change” to be more in line with Nintendo’s brand.
In the match itself, your goal is to be the last player standing – pretty typical for BR, and to obtain Victory Points. Those can be gained through direct combat, or by only partaking when you’re guaranteed to win, so called third-partying.
Some events could alter this structure, however, and introduce different victory conditions. Miyazaki gave the example of tasking players with taking down a boss to win. In fact, the game is dynamic enough to occasionally spawn special enemies, and set fresh objectives for players. According to Miyazaki, the studio wanted to create multiple avenues for players to succeed so that even those who aren’t good at PvP could still find it satisfying.
The director also touched on this idea of roles, which players can pick from and customise. Some of the examples given include a role that will task one player with taking down another specific player, or protecting them instead. Roles can be assigned to any character using blood.
The Duskbloods is a Switch 2 exclusive arriving sometime in 2026, and it sounds like FromSoftware wanted to try a lot of new interesting ideas with this one, so it may well end up being its most interesting project yet.