The Witcher 3

Even longtime fans of The Witcher couldn’t have anticipated just how masterful The Witcher 3’s open-world design and storytelling would turn out. To this day, The Witcher 3 stands as a benchmark for how to make side quests just as engaging, and in most cases even more engaging, than the main quest of the game. I spent many sessions just exploring the immersive capital city of Novigrad alone. It wasn’t just the scope and quantity of things to see and do that made The Witcher 3 so great, it’s the consistent quality throughout it all that made us not want to miss any of it.

Story

Armored Core 6: Fires Of Rubicon’s story tackles many of the same depressing themes of greed and corruption seen in FromSoftware’s other works like the Souls series. Set in the distant future where humanity has expanded its horizons to the space beyond, the game puts us in the shoes of a mercenary who has been sent on a mission to gain control of a mysterious substance on the planet of Rubicon 3. There are multiple megacorporations vying for possession, so the road ahead will obviously be wrought with all sorts of dangers blocking your path – but you must power through at all costs and turn this uphill battle in your favor.

Connection To Prior Games

Armored Core is a series that spans more than a handful of mainline entries and a universe rich with detailed lore, so it’s only natural that fans might want to know whether Armored Core 6 will have connections to prior releases. Thankfully for newcomers to the franchise, Armored Core 6 is built as a soft reboot – so having prior experience with the franchise isn’t necessary to get the full gist of this story. But those who have played previous Armored Core releases will be duly rewarded with clever easter eggs and clever narrative links peppered throughout the game.

Story Choices

In tune with prior releases from the developer, Armored Core 6 will also feature multiple endings – as confirmed by the game’s developer in a recent interview on PlayStation Blog. The developer stated that as players complete playthroughs, they will be able to take new paths which will unlock different endings. We don’t know whether the game will have New Game Plus options or not, but witnessing these alternate endings seems like a great reason to revisit the game a second or a third time.

Mech Combat

Over on the gameplay front, Armored Core 6 looks set to take the foundations of prior entries and modernize the combat in an effort to placate a modern audience. As can already be seen from the trailers, the combat is extremely fast-paced and focused on nimble movements and quick reaction times. The developer states that things can get pretty chaotic as well and that intensity levels might reach the levels of Armored Core 4 – so that’s also pretty exciting to hear as well.

Mech Customization

Much like prior entries in the series, Armored Core 6 will also put a ton of emphasis on mech customization. Players will be able to fully customize their mechs ranging from armor to weapons to mobility options and much more. Of course, there’s going to be some sort of power budget that will dictate the extent of your options – but there’s little argument that Armored Core 6 is definitely going to be a dream come true for fans who like to go crazy with all sorts of wacky builds and also lovers of fashion Souls.

Impact Bar

Armored Core 6 also introduces a new mechanic in the form of the Impact Bar, which seems to have been lifted straight out of Sekiro’s hat. You see, each enemy has a posture bar above its head that progressively fills up with each successful hit – and once it reaches a certain threshold, players can pummel those enemies down with a flurry of heavy attacks which will deal significant health damage if not wipe out the enemy completely. The Impact Bar will most likely make for an aggressive combat system, and we’re excited to see how it pans out in the final release.

Boss Fights

From Ornstein And Smough in Dark Souls to Orphan Of Kos In Bloodborne to Malenia in Elden Ring, FromSoftware has established itself as one of the top talents when it comes to crafting boss fights that push a player to their absolute limits. Armored Core 6 will continue the same trend, with the developer already confirming that boss fights will be one of the highlights of the experience. As such, players can expect plenty of bombastic encounters against hulking mechs who will knock you down in moments unnoticed if you’re not careful.

However, unlike the Souls games where fights revolve around reading attack patterns and finding windows of opportunities to punish the enemy – Armored Core 6’s boss fights will focus more on gear management and choosing the right build for the job if you want to ensure a smooth victory.

Open World

Taking a steep turn back from the level design philosophy of Souls games, Armored Core 6 wouldn’t be featuring an open world for players to explore. Instead, you will be making your way through carefully crafted arenas that differ vastly from one another. These arenas look to be pretty large in space, and there’s plenty of verticality to them as well. Furthermore, the developer has said that Armored Core 6 will stick to the traditional mission-based structure of the franchise – so it’s also likely that these levels might not be seamlessly connected to one another like Dark Souls.

Melee Weapons

One of the bigger changes with respect to the series’ traditional combat is the addition of melee weapons. Players will be able to equip close-range weapons like swords, lances, and chainsaws in the left arm slot which will be used in conjunction with the previously mentioned Impact Bar to deal heavy amounts of damage to enemies. As can already be seen from the trailers, going in for close-range hits will be a highly effective strategy – so you might want to collect these melee weapons as you progress through the game.

Long-Range Weapon Variety

Armored Core 6 will also feature an equally impressive number of options when it comes to long-range weapon variety. You will be able to choose from the likes of plasma rifles, Gatling guns, split missiles, and much more. Of course, there are going to be multiple variants in each of these weapon categories – so you will have plenty of options when it comes to strategizing against different enemy types.

Difficulty Options

It’s customary that every FromSoftware release is accompanied by the age-old question, “Will it have an easy mode?” The developer hasn’t yet confirmed whether the game will have the option to change the difficulty or not, but we do know that it will be a challenging game – as stated by the developer on the Taipei Game Show. While it would be a pleasant surprise to see a more accessible release with Armored Core 6, it’s best to keep expectations in check for now.

Mission Checkpoints

Speaking of accessibility, Armored Core 6 looks set to be more forgiving in terms of mortality mechanics when compared to the Souls releases. You see, each mission will have a set number of checkpoints which ensures that players don’t lose out on a ton of progress after each death. Furthermore, it’s also confirmed that there will be no currency loss on death – which should help make things a bit easier as well.

Multiplayer Support

Long-time fans of Armored Core might have fond memories of duking it out against other players in the many multiplayer modes of prior entries, and we’re happy to report that Armored Core 6 will also feature a Versus multiplayer mode. It’s essentially a 1v1 battle against other real players, allowing you to showcase your crazy builds and strategies and completely obliterate the opposition or just have some good old-fashioned fun with friends.

Co-op Support

Another way Armored Core 6 breaks the tradition of FromSoftware releases is with regard to support for co-op. Unlike the Souls games where you could summon a buddy to help with a tough boss fight, FromSoftware’s upcoming release will not have any such options for co-op gameplay as has already been confirmed by the developers themselves. It’s certainly a missed opportunity, but it is what it is.

PC System Requirements

Armored Core 6 can be a fairly demanding game on PC, so you might need a decent gaming rig to have a shot at running the game. According to the Steam page, you will need to have a minimum of a Core i5 8600k, GTX 960, and 16 GB of RAM to run the game at minimum settings. The final release will clock in at about 65 GB of system space, so make sure to free your drive accordingly. Unfortunately, recommended specifications are unknown at the moment – but expect to have at least an 8-core processor and RTX graphics card if you wish to run the game at anything above 1080p.

With the servers back online, players can once again partake in the game’s complicated multiplayer modes, including co-op, as well as pvp.

The servers were taken down earlier this year following reports of issues with the server infrastructure. While the issues lied with Dark Souls 3‘s multiplayer allowing for malicious code to be remotely executed on unwitting players’ computers, servers for Dark Souls 1 and 2 were taken down as well.

Details about the exploit were released two months after the servers were taken down thanks to a Github repository containing documentation about the exploit.

Interestingly, the vulnerability is also present in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, but since that game lacks multiplayer features, it is impossible to trigger it.

Developer FromSoftware’s most recent release, Elden Ring, has been thankfully free of any such known exploits surrounding its multiplayer.

Online features for the PC version of Dark Souls III have been reactivated.

We are working to restore these features for all other #DarkSouls titles and will inform you when they are back in service.

Thank you once more for your patience and support. pic.twitter.com/XHiCZDEANC

— Dark Souls (@DarkSoulsGame) August 25, 2022

Elden Ring‘s network test will start on November 12, and will be conducted in multiple slots through to November 14. Players will be able to choose between 5 character classes, and will of course, have limited access to the game’s gargantuan map. FromSoftware will conduct similar tests in the future leading up to the launch of Elden Ring on 25 February, 2022.

The game recently received a new gameplay trailer that outlined the various aspects of the game, including open-world exploration, combat, legacy dungeons, and a lot more. Elden Ring looks to be a natural evolution of the Dark Souls formula, even though it is markedly different from its predecessors in a lot of ways.

To our international players:
Thank you very much for signing up to the Elden Ring Network Test. Those of you selected will be notified by Bandai Namco Entertainment, so please stay on the lookout for further announcements.

— FROMSOFTWARE (@fromsoftware_pr) November 8, 2021

And now, Sony is about to show us the next wave of PS5 software. For far too long, PlayStation fans have complained about Sony’s silence, and how the company won’t share what’s in the pipeline for the $500 machines they have just bought on faith – the good thing is, now Sony is about to show us what’s behind the curtains, with their upcoming PlayStation event.

Obviously, it’s hard to know exactly what we can expect from this show, but there are some predictions we can make – based on rumours, educated guesses, precedence, and just plain old wishful thinking at times. Honestly, if even half this list shows up at Sony’s even, we’ll be satisfied – if they manage to pull through with all of them, we’ll be ecstatic. So, without further ado, here’s what we expect.

HORIZON: FORBIDDEN WEST

Horizon: Forbidden West got a huge State of Play back before E3, and it’s spent the last few weeks in the news cycle, with the confirmation of the official release, date, as well as pre-order details, and the snafus associated with Sony’s boneheaded cross-gen strategy. But what we haven’t gotten in a while is a new look at the game itself – which we probably will at Sony’s event. To be honest, we probably won’t see a lot of it, and Sony will presumably not want to linger on it too much, since it has been in the news cycle (and since Sony will probably want to talk about stuff we don’t have as much details on), but Horizon being there is a pretty safe bet. Hopefully we get to see more of a look at how Guerrilla plans on evolving their well-received, but flawed, first attempt at an open world action RPG.

THE LAST OF US REMAKE

From recent, well sourced reports, we know that Sony is supposed to be working on a remake of the seminal The Last of Us. Whether or not this is a considered decision is now water under the bridge – no matter what one thinks of whether the excellent 2013 game which still holds up needs a remake, it is, apparently, getting one. And if it is, we might get to see it at this event. It’ll be really interesting to see what changes, if any, the game has over the original – The Last of Us is one of the most beloved games of all time, and out single handedly defined Sony’s entire first party approach from there on. It also holds up remarkably well – so what will the remake bring to the table? Are we looking at it adopting Part 2‘s amazingly realized sandbox style encounters? Will there be any changes made to the story? We’re pretty excited to see what comes of The Last of Us‘s remake at this point, and we hope Sony brings the goods.

THE LAST OF US PART 2: FACTIONS

Of course, The Last of Us Remake will probably not be the only new entry in that franchise we see at this event. Sony and Naughty Dog have been teasing the multiplayer component to Part 2, which was expanded in scope to be a standalone product, for a while now, and we still haven’t seen anything of it. We’ve barely had official acknowledgement for it. So, the time has come – if this thing is still happening, this PS event is where Sony should take the curtains off and finally reveal how The Last of Us multiplayer will be evolving in the next generation. Personally, given how mechanically sublime The Last of Us Part 2 is, I can’t wait to see what a multiplayer game based off of it will be like.

FORSPOKEN

Final Fantasy 16 is not going to be at this show – as much as I’d want it to be, Square Enix pretty much confirmed earlier this year that it’s unlikely to be shown off for the remainder of 2021. But we already know that Forspoken, the new game from the development team of Final Fantasy 15, is supposed to release before Final Fantasy 16 – so perhaps we get a new look at that? There are a lot of questions about this game, which is promising to deliver an open world action RPG unlike any Square Enix has ever attempted in the past – and maybe a deeper dive into what the game might deliver will help stoke the fires of hype.

GRAN TURISMO 7

This one is honestly a bit of a crapshoot as to whether or not it shows up at the event. Gran Turismo games are notorious for having protracted development cycles, something that 7 is probably especially struggling with given COVID-19 is still a thing, and that apparently the PS4 version for it was added later in development. Past GT games have often skipped showings at events until nearer release – depending on the state of the game right now, there’s a possibility that Gran Turismo 7 is a no-show here as well. However, presumably we will get something for the game here – a short trailer or a gameplay demo around one track, perhaps? Like I said, it’s hard to nail this one down. But Gran Turismo is Sony’s oldest active franchise – and I am sure there are many who would be delighted to see it.

BLUEPOINT GAMES

Is Sony actually acquiring Bluepoint Games? Who knows anymore? When announcing the acquisition of Housemarque earlier this year, PlayStation Japan’s Twitter account accidentally also shared news indicating Bluepoint had been similarly acquired – but that was quickly deleted, and Bluepoint continues to be independent, with no official acknowledgement of that goof since. Was it a goof? Who knows? Maybe Sony announces Bluepoint joining the PlayStation Studios family at this event. Maybe there is no acquisition, but at the very least we get to see what game they are working on next – whether it be a remake of some other classic Sony property, or something new entirely.

NEW GAMES FROM SONY’S NEW PARTNERSHIPS

Over the last few months, Sony has been announcing new partnerships for exclusive games with newly set up studios, most prominently, Jade Raymond’s Haven Studios. We haven’t seen or heard anything from these new games these studios are supposed to be working on, even though we do know that Sony is apparently relying on their expertise with multiplayer games to compensate for the weakness of those styles of games in their own first party lineup. Once more, if these games are anywhere close to being shown, this Sony even is as good a place as any. Hopefully we see at least one of them soon.

BLOODBORNE REMASTER

People have been trying to will a Bloodborne remaster into existence for almost half a decade now (ever since the PS4 Pro in fact). They have good reason to – Bloodborne is an amazing game, but it suffers from being technically fairly, shall we say lacking. Framerate drops and frame pacing issues are the biggest problems the game suffers from, and a re-release that does literally nothing else except ironing those out will probably be able to charge a $70 premium and get away with it for its contingent of loyal and devoted fans. Bloodborne as a remaster – for PS5 and PC – has been rumoured variously for a while now, though to be fair, none of those rumours really seem to have much backing them. But again, if it’s true that this game is getting a remaster, or re-release, or update of any kind, we should hopefully see it next week. And if we don’t… well, sometimes it’s best to just make your peace with how things are.

NEW FROM SOFTWARE GAME

In the PS3 and PS4 eras, Sony partnered with From Software to deliver a generation defining game each time that would drive core gamers to their consoles – Demon’s Souls for PS3, Bloodborne for PS4. Recent reports indicate they are teaming with From Software again for a hat trick, which sounds extremely exciting – although a lot of questions remain about whether or not there is any veracity to this rumor. For starters, given that all of From has been pulled into trying to get Elden Ring out the door, who exactly is working on this new game? Secondly, given that Bloodborne and Demon’s Souls were both FromSoftware and Sony Japan co-productions (a fact that tends to often be forgotten), who exactly is working with From on this game? Sony Japan is closed now, because Sony in their infinite wisdom decided to shut down their oldest internal development studio. Is there even any truth to this rumor? I really hope so, because as I said, the last two times Sony and From joined forces delivered among the greatest games of all time. I’d love another one of those.

WIPEOUT

Something that somehow feels even unlikelier than a new From Software partnership is a new Wipeout game, and yet, a new Wipeout game was part of a lot of the same reports that reported on the new From title. Unlikely, why? After all, Wipeout was widely loved, and is Sony’s oldest IP. But the thing is, the genre it is in hasn’t delivered a hit in over two decades, the studio that made Wipeout (industry legends Pygnosis, acquired by Sony before the release of PS1, rebranded later) has been shut down, and there is no indication that Sony really has any other studio with the know-how to make a futuristic arcade racing game. Maybe Polyphony Digital could give it a go (and they would probably do it well), but they seem to be all wrapped up in Gran Turismo 7 right now, so… how can this game exist? Why would it even exist, given how poorly Wipeout has done since the late PS1 era? Those questions are not for me to answer, they’re for Sony to. And if this game is real, hopefully Sony answers those questions at this event, and reveals a new Wipeout game worthy of the moniker. 

SPIDER-MAN 2

We literally got Miles Morales not even a year ago, and Insomniac delivered Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart just a couple months earlier this year – so it might seem foolish to expect the studio to reveal another new big budget tentpole game already, given how long games take to develop now, and that Miles is so new (and still selling so well); but Insomniac works really efficiently, and it’s actually not unrealistic to expect them to have a full-fledged Spider-Man sequel out by 2023. It’s also a game they have talked about a fair few times in the past. We are probably not going to get much of a detailed look at Spider-Man 2 at the PS event, if we get any look at all to begin with – but at the very least, I think we can expect an official announcement trailer.

GOD OF WAR

You knew we were going to save this for the end, because that’s probably what Sony is going to do as well. God of War 2018 was an incredible reimagining of a beloved franchise, and one of the most acclaimed games of last generation – and a direct follow up that builds on it and addresses its shortcomings is an exciting prospect by definition. Sony originally announced the game for a 2021 release for PS5 only – obviously, they weren’t being exactly truthful there, because the game is a cross-gen title, and it’s not coming this year, but neither of those things is really enough to dampen the hype at the prospect of a real, new God of War game running on the PS5. If we see nothing else at this show, we are guaranteed to see what happens in the story of Kratos and Atrues now that Ragnarok has been initiated – and how the sequel builds up on the tease at the very end of the 2018 game. We cannot wait, frankly, and a new look at God of War will be enough to make this event worth it all on its own.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

“My work on it was actually done years ago,” Martin explained. “These games, they’re like movies, they take a long time to develop. Basically, they wanted a world created to set the game in. World building is a big factor in fantasy and science fiction. You’re not only talking characters and the plot, but the setting is almost as important as everything else: Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, Robert E. Howard’s Hyborian Age, the Foundation universe of Isaac Asimov.”

Martin says his job mostly consisted on working up detailed background information for the game world and From did the rest of the work from there. He also said that while From would occasionally show him monster designs or other “cool things,” he hasn’t worked on the game in years. “The game has been slowly developing and now it’s coming out in January, I believe, so I’ll be as excited as anybody else to see it,” Martin said.

We’ve already spoken about a number of franchises that would be better off with other developers, and now, we’re going to take a look at ten more.  We’re going to talk about who we think that developer should be, and also about why we think they would do a better job than the people who’re currently working on the franchise in question.

Just like last time, we would like to remind you that this list is purely hypothetical- entries you see in this feature are not predictions, theories or speculation. They’re simply hypotheses of why these franchises could possibly be better off in the hands of these other developers.

With that out of the way, let’s get right into it. If you disagree with any of our picks, or have suggestions of your own, sound off in the comments section below.

MEGA MAN 

Why It Isn’t Working So Well

Mega Man was once one of the most popular franchises in the industry, and to be fair, it retains much of that popularity to this day. But that is in spite of Capcom, rather than because of them. The series has been on a hiatus for a number of years, despite fervent demands by the fans for a new game. Capcom have announced and cancelled several new Mega Man projects since, and the series remains inexplicably absent from the market. It’s not as if Capcom are no longer capable of making Mega Man anymore – after all, remember Mega Man 9 and 10, the last games in the franchise we got? Those were pretty good – it’s just that they are unwilling. And frankly, after seeing how they’ve handled some of their other classic franchises over the last few years, such as Street Fighter, we’re having serious doubts about their capability to make a good new one too..

How It Could Be Better

WITH NINTENDO

Mega Man and Nintendo almost seems like a match made in heaven. Nintendo have shown throughout the years that they know how to respect and evolve classic franchises while retaining what made them beloved in the first place, and that is exactly what Mega Man needs right now. Looking at action-platformers such as the 2D Metroid games, it becomes exceedingly clear that Nintendo would be more than comfortable with handling the kind of game design and moment-to-moment gameplay that a typical Mega Man experience aspires to. Seeing how Nintendo handled Mega Man in Super Smash Bros. on the Wii U and the 3DS is also very encouraging, and shows that they do respect the franchise the way it needs to be respected.

The newest game from FromSoftware was announced at Microsoft’s E3 conference, and already fans are speculating about what the game will be. The trailer reveal told us little, outside a very dark and eerie feeling that’s been a staple of many of the company’s games. But what is an Elden Ring? Well, it’s a neat name, for one, but Director and Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki breaks down a little more meaning.

In talking with IGN, Miyazaki talked about how the Elden Ring refers to a strange key item in the game’s world. It governors over the rules of the world, but it has been shattered in some way that has driven everything into chaos. He also says that it’s also a reference to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, and the concept of a ring or circle having an undefinable amount of power. Miyazaki even says it will not only affect the story, but also the gameplay.

“The Elden Ring is a mysterious, key element in the foundation of the world we have created,” says Miyazaki. “It forms the rules and rhythm of this world. But as you can see in our trailer, it has been shattered.”

Elden Rings is slated to be released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. If you’re curious about what else the developers have said about the game, check it out here.

Bloodborne is developed by FromSoftware, and released in between Dark Souls 2 and Dark Souls 3. While there are clear similarities in gameplay between Dark Souls games and Bloodborne, it’s generally the case that Bloodborne‘s design tends to reward faster and more aggressive gameplay. Nevertheless, the similarities in design and aesthetic have coined the nickname “Soulsborne” as a tribute to both franchise’s gameplay experiences. That being said, Dark Souls 3 released in 2016. When the Bloodborne DLC “The Old Hunters” was finished being working on by FromSoftware, the development team moved to work on a major new title – the recently released Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

Hidetaka Miyazaki, the director of the Souls series and Bloodborne, and also the president of FromSoftware, has been pretty vocal about his plans for Bloodborne and the Souls games. For Bloodborne in particular, Sony and FromSoftware have been consistently in denial that any such project exists – and not in a way that suggests necessarily that Bloodborne 2 is a realistic possibility, but in such a way that casts doubt that the project is currently being worked on. The easter eggs to Bloodborne found in the PSVR title Deracine were thought by many (or perhaps, hoped by many) to be an allusion to another Bloodborne title being in the works.

But such a notion was denied by Miyazaki in 2018, stating that the Easter eggs were not indicative of plans for a sequel. In a recent interview conducted with Game Informer, Miyazaki further explained that it was a decision within FromSoftware to place references to Bloodborne in Deracine strictly as a homage to the game itself, indicative of the team’s love for the title. However, Miyazaki also acknowledge that the specuation for a sequel is an indication that the Easter eggs were interpreted beyond FromSoftware’s intention, and as such they hope to tread more carefully regarding any commentary on Bloodborne in the future.

Bloodborne itself arose as Sony approached FromSoftware for a new IP. As FromSoftware was approached about the idea and Miyazaki would begin to consider it, he came to the conclusion that it was necessary for this new project to be developed on the PS4, to suit his artistic vision – high-end hardware would be necessary to create the detailed world desired for Bloodborne. This also explains why Bloodborne is not a cross-generational title – while it may seem like a long time ago, there were many titles that were released cross-generationally during the earlier part of the PS4’s life.

It must also be said that Sony itself does own the Bloodborne IP, so any notion of a sequel would have to be approved by them. This is at least part of the reason why Miyazaki had worried that the rampant speculation about a sequel to Bloodborne that arose from the Deracine Easter eggs had “inconvenienced” Sony to some degree.

But what about Bloodborne makes it so popular to begin with? The Souls games are a popular franchise to begin with, and it turns out that development for Bloodborne was concurrent with Dark Souls 2. But it’s in the exactingly difficult gameplay with a great emphasis on speed, and the haunting fantasy-horror aesthetic that combine to make a game that is both somewhat iterative on the existing “Souls formula” but still distinct on its own – though neverless fantastic in execution. The game is in no way seen as a cash-in – it has its own identity. Even if the gameplay experience is familiar to those who already appreciate the Souls series, it’s a product that heavily rewards the player’s investment into the game, and the sense of accomplishment from overcoming a difficult challenge is something that Bloodborne excels in articulating. All of this aside, Bloodborne also has a rich and interesting story that invites much speculation even after fully completing the game.

Bloodborne, a great effort from FromSoftware, resulted in a two million in sales as of September 2015, which is notable because the game itself released for all scheduled regions in late March of the same year. While Bloodborne may have released in something of a slow period, it cannot be denied that reaching that target within less than half of a year is an amazing feat, especially for a new IP.

Sony UK’s manging director Fergal Gara mentioned that he was surprised about Bloodborne commercial performance, though it is possible he many have been talking about sales within the UK itself. Even so, he had stated that he expected the game to do well, but even then Bloodborne had exceeded his expectations.

All of this being said, it is also exactly Sony that is most staunch about not making statements about a hypothetical Bloodborne 2. As Sony owns the IP, it would likely figure that if there were a hypothetical Bloodborne 2 to be released in the future, they want it to be executed in such a way that it will maximize sales potential for themselves. To make no statements on behalf of Sony itself, it could perhaps be the case that this involves development on the next Playstation system. Given Sony CEO and President Kenichiro Yoshida’s comments in 2018 about next generation hardware being “necessary,” and combining this with Sony’s ownership over the Bloodborne IP, they may want the game to take advantage of certain next generation features, or for it to be a launch title.

It also has to be said that games such as the Souls games, Bloodborne, and the recently-released Sekiro are high-investment games on the part of FromSoftware and take years to complete. Sekiro’s development began in late 2015. Bloodborne‘s development likely began in 2012.

In an interview with Japanese outlet 4Gamer that was published in December of last year, Miyazaki commented on FromSoftware’s “3.5” title development plan. Translation of this interview from Gematsu explains that this idea refers back to a comment he made in June 2016 discussing the number of games FromSoftware was working on at the time: 0.5 refers to Deracine, and 1.0 refers to Sekiro. 4Gamer had asked if this math suggested that there are two games currently in development that are unannounced, and Miyazaki confirmed it. Miyazaki further added that both games are “FromSoftware-esque titles” and that it wasn’t the time to discuss the games in depth yet, but they’ll be able to “‘tell everyone more about them once they take shape.'”

It’s tricky wording. It has been nearly two years in development for both of these games, but game development can be a lengthy process, and public commentary has to be coordinated with promotional strategy, AND with any other relevant company partners. If there’s a type of game that can be considered to be “FromSoftware-esque”, it’s very easy to respond with “Soulsborne!”, but Miyazaki has already been up front about not encouraging that speculation any more than is necessary. It also has to be said that Miyazaki has stated that he doesn’t want to indefinintely create Souls series and Bloodborne games, though he said shortly after that he thinks Dark Souls 3 is the close of the Souls series. This all adds up to assessing Bloodborne 2 as a “possibility”, but not much more. The lack of confirmations or denials, understandable either way, don’t help necessarily, but an optimist would be happy to hear that there have been no outright denials. But if Bloodborne 2 is being developed for a hypothetical Playstation 5, expect to wait several more months.

Maybe the PS5 will be revealed this year, but even that expectation is optimistic and may be ahead of Sony’s schedule.  Regardless, we can say for sure that the relevant parties aren’t reacting unfavorably to the demand for Bloodborne 2! Let us know your thoughts about a hypothetical Bloodborne 2 in the comments section – do you expect one to be released at all, do you think a sequel is necessary, in light of Miyazaki’s comments about not repeatedly making Souls-like games?

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

From Software has a built-in fanbase on PlayStation (because that’s where the Souls series technically started with Demon’s Souls in 2009) and PC (because the Souls games fit right at home with the kinds of RPGs PC gamers are used to and love), but that doesn’t mean their games aren’t doing well on Xbox. For instance, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, the new action game from the developer, seems to have performed extraordinarily well on Xbox One.

As of right now, the game is the top performing game on the paid game charts for digital game sales via Xbox Live on Xbox One in the US as well as the UK, Canada, and Australia. It’s actually relatively rare to see a Japanese game take the spot on Xbox charts, which makes Sekiro’s performance doubly impressive. It’s clear that even if it is performing better on PC and PS4, it’s doing well enough on Xbox One to support further future From Software games to the platform.

The game also topped charts in the UK, in Japan, and also had an impressive Steam debut. Also, given how great Sekiro is, I’m glad it’s just doing well, period.