Hidetaka Miyazaki says The Duskbloods and Elden Ring: Nightreign do not signal a permanent FromSoftware multiplayer turn. Here is what is confirmed, what remains unknown, and how single-player fans should read the studio's next move.
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Miyazaki addresses the fear behind FromSoftware's multiplayer streak
Hidetaka Miyazaki has directly pushed back on the idea that The Duskbloods marks a permanent pivot away from FromSoftware single-player games. In an interview with IGN, the FromSoftware president and director of The Duskbloods said the studio still has “a heavy focus on single-player content,” even as its next Switch 2 exclusive follows Elden Ring: Nightreign into online-focused territory. That reassurance lands at a tense moment for a studio whose reputation was built on solitary journeys through hostile spaces, where the rhythm of a duel, the architecture of a shortcut, and the dread before a boss fog gate carried as much weight as any multiplayer feature. The concern is easy to understand. FromSoftware’s most recent major single-player release was Elden Ring in 2022, followed by the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion in 2024, according to IGN. Elden Ring: Nightreign arrived in 2025 as a co-operative multiplayer experience, and The Duskbloods is positioned as a PvPvE game for Nintendo Switch 2. Two multiplayer projects in a row can look like a pattern from the outside, especially after Elden Ring’s huge commercial footprint. Miyazaki’s answer, however, frames the timing as coincidence rather than a strategic declaration. Speaking to IGN, he said there was “never really any big plan” for Nightreign and The Duskbloods to release next to each other, adding that Nightreign had a different director, Junya Ishizaki, while The Duskbloods is Miyazaki’s project. The key distinction is that Miyazaki is reassuring players about the studio’s creative appetite, not announcing a specific single-player game, sequel, platform, release window, or production schedule.
The Duskbloods exists because some ideas would not fit a solo campaign
Miyazaki’s explanation is less about chasing the multiplayer market and more about design pressure. In IGN’s interview, he said FromSoftware had accumulated ideas over the years that sounded promising but “didn’t really fit in the context of a single-player game.” He specifically connected The Duskbloods to tabletop role-playing games and board games, influences that naturally emphasize rulesets, shifting roles, social reads, and contest structure. That is a different creative engine from a traditional FromSoftware action adventure, where the designer controls pacing through enemy placement, level geometry, resource scarcity, and the player’s private process of failure and mastery. The Duskbloods gives those unused multiplayer ideas a home. Miyazaki told IGN that FromSoftware’s earlier games, including Demon’s Souls and the Dark Souls series, had already experimented with unusual online features such as invasions and covenant systems. The new game appears to expand that lineage into a full competitive framework rather than treating online play as a strange pressure bleeding into a primarily single-player world. That matters for how players should read the project. The Duskbloods is not being presented by Miyazaki as a replacement for the studio’s single-player craft. It is being described as an outlet for mechanics that resisted that form. There is still a risk here for fans who come to FromSoftware for lonely exploration and curated combat escalation. Multiplayer changes the tempo. A rival player is less predictable than a patrol path. A match clock or point system can reshape the tension of discovery. But Miyazaki’s comments suggest that those differences are exactly why The Duskbloods became multiplayer in the first place.
What The Duskbloods is confirmed to be, and what is still missing
The Duskbloods is confirmed as a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, and Game Informer’s preview lists FromSoftware as both publisher and developer with a 2026 release. GamingBolt also reports that the game is set for Switch 2, with a closed network test starting on August 21. A specific release date has not been announced in the provided source material. GamingBolt notes that insider NateTheHate has claimed the game will not launch in the summer, but that is a rumor, not a confirmed release plan. The core setup is competitive and theatrical in a way that still sounds recognizably FromSoftware. GamingBolt describes players controlling one of over a dozen Bloodsworn, each competing for the First Blood during the Twilight of Humanity. Wikipedia’s public listing describes The Duskbloods as an online action game supporting up to eight players, combining PvP and PvE combat, with Bloodsworn characters empowered by special blood and equipped with distinct weapons and abilities. The same listing describes a structure built around roles, Victory Points, events, bosses, rewards, and customization in a hub area. Those details point toward a match-based action game with multiple paths to success rather than a straight duel arena. Game Informer’s hands-on preview adds useful texture for single-player-minded readers. Marcus Stewart writes that FromSoftware’s fans expressed reservations when The Duskbloods was first described as a PvPvE Soulslike, and that the studio itself regrets leading with that descriptor because it believes it gives an inaccurate impression of the game. According to Game Informer, battling other players is core to the experience, but the game also emphasizes solo exploration within matches, dangerous monsters, and secrets that can help players get ahead of rivals. That does not turn The Duskbloods into a traditional solo campaign, but it does suggest FromSoftware is trying to preserve some of its exploratory cadence inside a competitive format.
The multiplayer worry is rational, even if the evidence is incomplete
Players are not inventing the anxiety out of nowhere. The visible release sequence is unusual for FromSoftware’s modern identity: Elden Ring in 2022, Shadow of the Erdtree in 2024, Elden Ring: Nightreign in 2025, and The Duskbloods in 2026 according to the cited outlets. IGN also notes that Kadokawa, FromSoftware’s parent company, has faced pressure from an activist investor who believes the company has failed to fully capitalize on Elden Ring’s enormous success, and IGN cites Elden Ring as a 30 million-selling game. In that climate, it is reasonable for players to ask whether the commercial gravity of online replayability, repeat engagement, and recognizable IP spinoffs might pull the studio away from self-contained single-player design. But the sources do not support the claim that FromSoftware has abandoned that side of its work. Miyazaki’s comments to IGN and Eurogamer’s reporting on the same interview indicate the opposite. He characterized the back-to-back multiplayer projects as a coincidence of separate ideas arriving near one another, not as a public roadmap. He also told IGN that making a multiplayer game has been fun because it is something the studio has not done a lot, and that FromSoftware is looking forward to player reactions and feedback. That feedback loop will be important. A network test is a practical reminder that The Duskbloods has questions a normal solo action RPG does not have to answer in the same way: matchmaking, onboarding, balance, role clarity, encounter readability, and how well FromSoftware’s heavy, lethal combat breathes when seven other players and PvE threats are moving through the same match space.
Nintendo's role may shape how approachable this experiment feels
The Switch 2 exclusivity is one of the sharpest strategic details in the story. Eurogamer reports that The Duskbloods is made in partnership with Nintendo, and that Miyazaki said the relationship came about because Nintendo was “very excited and very receptive” to the idea and “very forward thinking” about how to do it. That partnership appears to have influenced onboarding. Miyazaki told IGN, as quoted by Eurogamer, that tutorials and helping players understand how the game works are areas where FromSoftware has “historically not been super great at conveying instantly,” while Nintendo is the right partner for communicating that information more clearly. That is a notable admission from a studio famous for leaving players to parse systems through friction, item text, death, and curiosity. The Duskbloods may need a different kind of clarity because multiplayer failure can feel harsher than single-player failure. In a solo FromSoftware game, the player can stare down a boss, learn the animation language, and return at their own pace. In a competitive match, confusion can snowball. If a player does not understand roles, rewards, rival objectives, or how PvE threats feed into the scoring economy, the match can turn from tense to illegible. Nintendo’s reported influence on onboarding could be especially important for an exclusive on new hardware, where the audience may include FromSoftware veterans, Nintendo-first players, and people curious about the studio but wary of its reputation. The platform situation is also clear only in one direction. The cited sources identify Nintendo Switch 2 as the platform, and no PlayStation, Xbox, or PC version is announced in the provided material. Pricing is also not listed in the provided sources.
How single-player fans should read Miyazaki's reassurance
Miyazaki’s most revealing line may be the one that sounds least like corporate messaging. He told IGN that the longer he works on something multiplayer, “it scratches that itch only to want to make something single-player again.” That is not a product announcement, but it is a creative signal. For players invested in Miyazaki single-player design, the important reading is measured optimism: FromSoftware’s president is saying the studio still values solo content, and he personally frames multiplayer work as something that can renew the urge to return to single-player creation. The unanswered questions remain significant. There is no confirmed next single-player FromSoftware game in the provided source material. There is no announced Elden Ring sequel, Bloodborne follow-up, or new solo IP attached to Miyazaki’s comments here. The Duskbloods itself remains an online-focused game, and Game Informer’s preview makes clear that battling other players is central even if exploration and PvE danger share the stage. If PvP pressure is a hard line for you, the sensible move is to watch the network test coverage and later previews closely before treating this as a substitute for Elden Ring, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, or Sekiro. The more useful takeaway is that The Duskbloods looks like an experiment with FromSoftware multiplayer rather than a funeral for FromSoftware single-player games. It is a side corridor with its own rules, its own blood-soaked tempo, and its own risks. The main road, at least according to Miyazaki’s comments to IGN, has not been closed.