During Nintendo’s Direct last week, it unveiled quite a few titles that would be coming for the Switch 2. Among these was a new game by Bloodborne and Elden Ring developer FromSoftware—The Duskbloods. ResetEra user Red Kong XIX has discovered that FromSoftware officially owns the IP for The Duskbloods, likely in hopes to avoid a situation like Bloodborne from happening again.
For context, there have been rumours surrounding the fact that FromSoftware has wanted to work on some kind of remaster or remake for Bloodborne, but the IP belonging to Sony having been a roadblock to that.
The trademark filing, which can be spotted over at J-PlatPat, reveals that FromSoftware owns just about every aspect of The Duskbloods that is possible for a game, including for games that are distributed through “memory card for video game consoles” to “discs” (translation via Firefox), which ultimately means that it will be up to FromSoftware if it ever wants to release the title on to other platforms.
This also means that, unlike PlatinumGames and the Bayonetta series, FromSoftware seemingly has complete freedom over where and how it wants to release The Duskbloods. The trademark for The Duskbloods was filed back in March, with the publishing date for the trademark filing having happened earlier this month.
Like most other FromSoftware games, The Duskbloods will be purely multiplayer focused, with the gameplay involving players not only taking on AI enemies, but also other players. Each match of The Duskbloods will feature up to 8 players that are thrown into its intricate world where they must fight enemies as well as compete with each other.
The Duskbloods will feature a host of playable characters that players can choose, each having their own special abilities. These abilities can range from the types of specialised weapons they use, to some characters getting more movement options through the use of things like jetpacks. All in all, the title will feature more than 12 playable characters.
Interestingly, each playable character will also help players define which opposing players are their enemies, and which ones are allies. In an interview from last week, director Hidetaka Miyazaki spoke about players will be able to take on “roles” that help them further decide aspects like this.
“In online play, roles give players special responsibilities and objectives that often lead to unique interactions and relationships between players based on their corresponding roles,” explained Miyazaki.
“It may reflect my own interests a bit. It might seem a little unorthodox at first, but I hope players will give it a try.”
Despite its recent focus on multiplayer games like The Duskbloods and the upcoming Elden Ring: Nightreign, FromSoftware has re-affirmed that it is still committed to making more single-player games in the future. Miyazaki has said that, while the studio is working on multiplayer games for now, it doesn’t mean that they won’t be making more single-player games down the line.
“The Nintendo Switch 2 version of Elden Ring was also announced, and we still intend to actively develop single-player focused games such as this that embrace our more traditional style,” he said.
The Duskbloods is coming exclusively to the Nintendo Switch 2 in 2026.