FromSoftware’s The Duskbloods Is Still On Track — And 2026 Is Shaping Up to Be the Studio’s Biggest Year Ever
FromSoftware doesn’t do quiet. Even when the studio goes dark — no trailers, no showcases, no social media breadcrumbs — the gravitational pull of its upcoming projects keeps the entire gaming conversation orbiting around them. Right now, The Duskbloods is that project, and after months of near-total silence, the studio’s parent company Kadokawa has just confirmed the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive is still firmly on schedule for a 2026 release. For FromSoftware fans who were starting to sweat, consider this your exhale.
According to reporting from Game Rant, Kadokawa’s most recent financial report — covering the fiscal year ending March 2026 — explicitly named both The Duskbloods and Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition as titles planned to hit Nintendo Switch 2 before the end of this calendar year. No specific date yet, but the confirmation itself is significant. This is the clearest signal we’ve had in months that the game is real, progressing, and coming.
The Duskbloods: What We Actually Know About FromSoftware’s Most Mysterious Game
Nearly a year has passed since The Duskbloods was first unveiled during Nintendo’s Switch 2 Direct in April 2025, and the information drought since then has been genuinely unusual — even by FromSoftware’s notoriously secretive standards.
What we do know paints a fascinating picture. The game is a gothic, dark fantasy action RPG with a PvPvE structure supporting up to eight players per match. Players take on the role of the Bloodsworn — warriors who’ve gained extraordinary abilities through a special supernatural blood, reminiscent of vampiric lore — competing for something called “First Blood” as human civilization collapses around them in an event called the Twilight of Humanity.
The concept is essentially Bloodborne’s atmosphere filtered through Elden Ring’s scale, then wired up for online multiplayer. That alone makes it one of the most intriguing original concepts FromSoftware has ever put forward.
How the Game Originally Started — and Why It Changed
One of the more interesting behind-the-scenes details is the origin story of The Duskbloods itself. According to earlier reports, Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki originally pitched the concept to Nintendo as a relatively barebones project — a rough outline rather than a polished proposal. What began as a seed of an idea on the original Switch eventually grew into a full-scale Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive as the hardware evolved.
That development arc matters because it explains some of the silence. This isn’t a game that started with a finished design bible. It’s one that’s been shaped in real-time alongside the capabilities of new hardware.
The Leak That Added Late 2026 to the Equation
Respected Nintendo insider Nate the Hate — whose credibility received a significant boost after correctly calling the existence of a new Star Fox game before its official announcement — has claimed The Duskbloods is targeting a late 2026 window, potentially landing around October or later. That would rule out a summer launch, giving FromSoftware more time to build anticipation through dedicated showcases or Nintendo Direct reveals.
A June Nintendo Direct, which the company has historically favored, would be the natural venue for a proper release date reveal. Whether Nintendo gives The Duskbloods a slot in a broader showcase or its own standalone presentation — as it did with the recent Star Fox announcement — remains to be seen.
Elden Ring Nightreign’s Strong Start and What It Means for FromSoftware’s Momentum
You can’t discuss The Duskbloods in isolation without acknowledging the broader context of where FromSoftware stands as a studio right now. And that context is remarkably strong.
Kadokawa’s latest financial presentation confirmed that Elden Ring Nightreign — the studio’s multiplayer co-op spin-off — launched to strong commercial performance. Nightreign was a genuine gamble. A cooperative multiplayer reimagining of the Elden Ring world, it asked fans to trust FromSoftware with a structural format the studio had never fully explored before. The fact that it landed well isn’t just good news for shareholders — it’s a proof of concept that directly applies to The Duskbloods. HappyGamer
FromSoftware building audience confidence in its multiplayer design sensibility right before launching a PvPvE-focused new IP is not an accident. Nightreign was, in many ways, a rehearsal for the ambitions of The Duskbloods.
The PlayStation Relationship Question
There’s an elephant in the room that the FromSoftware community has been circling for months. The studio’s historic relationship with Sony — which nurtured Bloodborne as a PlayStation exclusive and made FromSoftware’s reputation in the West — appears to have cooled significantly. Rumors about Bluepoint Games’ long-rumored Bloodborne remaster being shelved have been tied to frictions between the two companies, and The Duskbloods landing as a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive is about as clear a statement of platform realignment as you can make without issuing a press release.
Dr Gamez has been watching this dynamic closely, and from what we’ve seen, the move to Nintendo represents something more than a one-game deal. It signals that FromSoftware is actively exploring hardware partnerships beyond its traditional Sony orbit — a shift that could have significant implications for where future projects land.
What This Means for Switch 2 Owners and the Action RPG Community
For Nintendo fans who picked up a Switch 2, The Duskbloods and Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition together represent exactly the kind of marquee software that justifies a new hardware investment. The Switch 2 price is set to increase in September 2026, and Nintendo needs compelling exclusive software to push upgrades. A FromSoftware exclusive with this much pedigree attached to it is as strong a pitch as Nintendo could make.
For the broader action RPG community, the arrival of The Duskbloods raises genuinely exciting questions about how the Soulslike formula translates into an eight-player online environment. In our experience covering this genre, the PvPvE structure is one of the hardest designs to balance — you only have to look at the turbulent launch histories of games like Deathloop or Hunt: Showdown to understand the challenges. FromSoftware has never attempted anything at this scale, which makes the prospect both thrilling and slightly nerve-wracking.
A November 2025 leak made the extraordinary claim that The Duskbloods is FromSoftware’s most innovative game to date — supposedly featuring gameplay that surpasses even Elden Ring in scope. Take that with appropriate skepticism, but it’s worth noting that it came from a source with a reasonable track record.
Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition — The Other Big FromSoftware Switch 2 News
It would be easy for Tarnished Edition to get lost in the shadow of The Duskbloods conversation, but it deserves its own spotlight. The package will bundle the base Elden Ring experience with the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, and will also introduce new cosmetic options for Torrent. That’s a comprehensive offering for players who missed one of the defining games of the last decade. Final Weapon
The road to this release has been bumpy. When press previewed the Switch 2 build at Gamescom in 2025, the reaction was notably mixed — performance issues and resolution concerns prompted FromSoftware to delay the port and request additional development time. The studio stated that performance adjustments required more time, shifting the release from 2025 to 2026. That kind of transparency is relatively rare in the industry and, honestly, earns some goodwill. VICE
The fact that Kadokawa’s latest report places Tarnished Edition back on track for 2026 suggests those extra months have been put to productive use.
Conclusion: FromSoftware’s 2026 Is the Year the Studio Rewrites Its Own Boundaries
The Duskbloods isn’t just another FromSoftware game — it’s the studio testing whether its design philosophy can survive contact with a format it’s never attempted before. Eight-player PvPvE, a new IP, a new hardware partnership, and gothic vampire mythology thrown into the mix. If it works, it proves FromSoftware isn’t just the best studio in its genre — it’s capable of defining entirely new ones.
Kadokawa’s confirmation that The Duskbloods remains on schedule for 2026 is the most meaningful update FromSoftware fans have received in months. Pair that with Nightreign’s commercial success and Tarnished Edition’s return to the schedule, and you’re looking at a studio operating at peak creative and commercial momentum simultaneously.
From what we’ve seen over years of covering FromSoftware, the studio rarely overreaches — and when it does, it lands. The Duskbloods has every ingredient to be the most ambitious thing it has ever made. The real question now is whether a June Nintendo Direct finally gives us the release date reveal this game deserves.
What are your expectations for The Duskbloods — do you think the PvPvE format is a natural fit for FromSoftware’s design DNA, or does the multiplayer focus make you nervous? Let us know in the comments below.
