BODY: As FromSoftware kicks off the online network test for The Duskbloods, director Hidetaka Miyazaki—the mind behind Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring—sat down with GAME Watch to explain what makes his studio's Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive different from everything that came before it.
The headline philosophy: this is not a game about who hits hardest. "I want it to be a game you can win in ways other than directly trading blows," Miyazaki said. The Duskbloods is a PvPvE experience where up to eight players—the blood-drinking "Bloodsworn"—are dropped into a shared map to pursue objectives that don't always require gunning down the competition. Positioning, alliances, and reading the flow of a match matter as much as reflexes.
That design intent shapes the roster. Miyazaki confirmed the retail version will ship with characters numbering in the high teens—close to 20 distinct Bloodsworn, each carrying their own abilities, weapons, and playstyles. The variety is meant to give players multiple paths to victory, whether that means aggression, evasion, or objective-focused cunning.
The network test, running for a limited window, is FromSoftware's chance to stress-test matchmaking and balance before launch. It also marks the studio's first major original title built specifically around Nintendo hardware, a notable pivot for a developer synonymous with PlayStation and multiplatform releases.
The insider take
From a Tokyo vantage point, The Duskbloods reads as FromSoftware hedging against its own success. After Elden Ring sold tens of millions, the studio risks being boxed in as "the difficult single-player company." Betting a multiplayer-first title on Switch 2—rather than the widest possible install base—signals Nintendo courted this partnership hard, and that Miyazaki wanted a sandbox to experiment away from Soulsborne expectations. Japanese fans on social media are split: intrigued by the pedigree, wary of a competitive-online direction from a studio whose magic has always been atmosphere and solitude.
Originally reported by GAME Watch (Japanese).