BODY: FromSoftware's ambitious foray onto the Nintendo Switch 2 hit an early snag this week. The studio announced that the first network test for The Duskbloods, its upcoming online multiplayer action game, was being wrapped up ahead of schedule after the servers buckled under the load.
The word came via the game's official X account at 8:42 a.m. Japan time, informing players that the session would close earlier than planned. For a title built entirely around networked play, a server that can't keep up is more than a minor hiccup—it's the whole point of the test.
The Duskbloods is one of FromSoftware's most closely watched projects, revealed as a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive during Nintendo's platform reveal. Unlike the studio's largely solo Souls and Elden Ring experiences, this one leans hard into multiplayer, pitting players against one another and the environment in FromSoftware's signature gothic-horror register. That focus makes these early stress tests essential—and makes their stumbles very visible.
Network tests exist precisely to surface this kind of failure before launch, so an overwhelmed server is arguably the test doing its job. Still, an early shutdown will disappoint fans who carved out time to sample one of the year's most anticipated Switch 2 games. FromSoftware has not yet detailed a reschedule or a fix.
The insider take
From a Tokyo vantage point, this is a familiar pattern that shouldn't alarm anyone. Japanese studios routinely run cautious, tightly windowed "closed" network tests months before release, and demand for anything FromSoftware-branded consistently blows past internal projections—Elden Ring Nightreign and past Armored Core betas saw similar crushes. If anything, servers folding early signals that interest in The Duskbloods is running hot. Expect FromSoftware to quietly expand capacity and run additional test waves before the Switch 2 launch, as is standard practice here.
Originally reported by GAME Watch (Japanese).