Last year, FromSoftware surprised many of its fans by revealing that The Duskbloods would be exclusively released on the Nintendo Switch 2. In an interview with IGN, director Hidetaka Miyazaki discussed this partnership and said that Nintendo was “very excited and very receptive” to the idea of the game.
“In terms of the reason that we initially decided to go with Nintendo, we had had an opportunity to discuss the idea for the game with them, and I think they seemed very excited and very receptive to the idea; they seemed very forward-thinking in terms of how to do it. Before considering the business aspect of it, that alone was something that I found very appealing and gave me a lot more reassurance for moving forward with this.”
He went on to discuss how the partnership between FromSoftware and Nintendo was working out quite well, since the latter was helping the former constantly throughout development. Owing to the unique gameplay mechanics for The Duskbloods, Miyazaki said that Nintendo helped quite a bit with feedback, support, new ideas, and even game balance. Ultimately, he concluded that Nintendo was “definitely the right partner” for the game.
“Of course, the game isn’t out yet so there are more things to consider, but in terms of the relationship currently and how we think it’s going, up until this point – the systems and the overall ruleset of the game are very unique, and I think having someone who can constantly give us feedback, support, additional ideas, and the balancing first of all because these features are quite complex and difficult – having this relationship is definitely key to that.
“Also, with the complexity of the systems, 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. We’ve definitely just dropped players in and hoped they would figure it out. In this case, 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.”
Miyazaki recently denied any connection that fans may have spotted between The Duskbloods and fan-favorite PS4-exclusive game Bloodborne. He even went as far as to joke about regretting putting the word “blood” in the game’s name.
“I expected this question, but it is a game with no connection whatsoever to Bloodborne. In fact, because we’ve received this question so often, I almost regret putting the word ‘Blood’ in the title (laughs). There are merely similar terms and concepts; the themes are quite different.”
The Duskbloods is a PvPvE game, and FromSoftware is currently in the midst of a closed network test that recently kicked off. While no release date for it has been announced yet, FromSoftware’s parent company, Kadokawa, had said that back in February that it would come out before the end of 2026.
For more on The Duskbloods, take a look at what Miyazaki has said about single-player content.
