FromSoftware has indicated it may return to single-player games after The Duskbloods, following a run of multiplayer-focused releases. In an interview with IGN, president Hidetaka Miyazaki said the studio still has a heavy focus on single-player content, despite recent titles being built around online play.
Both Elden Ring: Nightreign and The Duskbloods require players to engage with others online. The Duskbloods combines player versus player (PvP) and player versus environment (PvE) elements in matches for up to eight players.
No planned multiplayer shift
Miyazaki said there was never a deliberate plan to release two multiplayer games back-to-back, explaining that both ideas simply coincided. He noted that The Duskbloods is directed by someone else, and that the multiplayer direction was not a signal of a broader shift.
‘It’s funny because there was never really any big plan that these two games [Nightreign and The Duskbloods] would both release next to each other,’ Miyazaki said. ‘I mean, that’s a different director, but both of those ideas just coincided with being multiplayer games.’
He added: ‘It’s not necessarily some big reveal saying that this is the direction we plan to go moving forward. We still have a heavy focus on single-player content as well. This is just something that happened to work out the way it did.’
Single-player itch after multiplayer work
Miyazaki suggested that working on multiplayer for a long time could spark a desire to create single-player experiences again. He also described The Duskbloods as an outlet for ideas that did not fit within the context of a single-player game.
Regarding the Switch 2 exclusivity, Miyazaki said Nintendo ‘seemed very excited and very receptive’ to the pitch, which gave him ‘a lot more reassurance for moving forward’ with the idea. He also cited FromSoftware’s historical struggles with tutorialisation as a factor in collaborating with Nintendo.
‘The onboarding tutorials and making sure players understand how the game works and how to succeed in the game is something we’ve historically not been super great at conveying instantly,’ he added. ‘We’ve definitely just dropped players in and hoped they would figure it out. Nintendo is definitely the right partner for better conveying that information in a way that is understandable to the player; it definitely suits their strengths.’
The Duskbloods network test schedule
The Duskbloods is a PvPvE game with battle royale elements. Each match pits eight players against each other across four timed phases, with players eliminated as the match progresses until one person remains. The goal is to gather Virtue by defeating players, wiping out bosses and other threats, or exploring to find Virtue-infused corpses. In the fourth phase, the top three players with the most Virtue advance to an arena battle to decide the winner.
The network test begins today at 11am BST, but it is no longer possible to sign up; the application period closed in late July. A release date has not been announced, but the game is slated to launch later in 2026.
The network test schedule is as follows: Friday, 21st August from 11am to 3pm BST; Saturday, 22nd August from 3am to 7am BST and 7pm to 11pm BST; Sunday, 23rd August from 11am to 3pm BST; and Monday, 24th August from 3am to 7am BST.
