FromSoftware’s upcoming PvPvE game, The Duskbloods, was initially planned for release on the original Nintendo Switch before moving over to Switch 2, according to director Hidetaka Miyazaki.
During an interview with Nintendo as part of its Creator’s Voice feature, Hidetaka Miyazaki, The Duskbloods director at FromSoftware, was asked to share what led to the game being developed for Nintendo Switch 2. In response, he mentioned that the team at FromSoftware had the opportunity to meet with Nintendo in order to discuss ideas some time ago. During this discussion, the developer presented a rough outline for The Duskbloods to the console maker.
According to Miyazaki, the pitch for The Duskbloods was very bare-bones at the time, as it was more a loose string of ideas rather than a proper presentation. The concept itself was different from anything FromSoftware had done before, and Nintendo seemed very interested in helping make it a reality. That’s when the project went into production.
The Duskbloods director stated that, at first, the game was being worked on by a small team as a title for the original Nintendo Switch. However, just as it started to take shape, the console maker approached FromSoftware with talk of the Nintendo Switch 2, which led the team to revamp its development path with the new hardware in mind. The Switch 2 hardware’s focus on online features allowed the studio to stay as true to the original vision as possible, which was very good news for the team.
As for whether the team at FromSoftware always had the desire to make a PvPvE type game, Miyazaki said that he always found the PvPvE structure very interesting. According to him, it allows for a broad range of game-design ideas, while also letting the development team leverage its experience of designing challenging enemy encounters. However, he clarified that this doesn’t mean that FromSoftware has decided to shift to a more multiplayer-focused direction with titles going forward. He added that the studio still intends to actively develop single-player focused games such as Elden Ring that embrace its more traditional style.
