FromSoftware fans spent Friday morning refreshing a Nintendo account page to find out whether they had been picked for something they still cannot fully describe. The Duskbloods network test selection results went live, and the game trended immediately.
That reaction tells you how strange this project is. The studio behind Dark Souls and Elden Ring has built an online multiplayer game exclusive to the Nintendo Switch 2, and a closed test invitation is being treated like a lottery win.
What Actually Happened This Morning
Applicants can now check their status through their Nintendo account. Selected players receive download codes on August 18, and the closed network test itself begins on August 21. FromSoftware has still not announced a release date.
Reporting from outlets covering the announcement indicates the game is expected on Switch 2 this year, though that remains an expectation rather than a confirmed date. Treat any specific launch window you see circulating as unconfirmed.
A FromSoftware Game That Is Not A Souls Game
The Duskbloods is described as a player versus player versus environment action game built around online multiplayer. That is a genuine departure. FromSoftware’s reputation rests on single player experiences with multiplayer bolted on as an option.
Here the multiplayer is the point. Whether the studio’s design instincts survive that inversion is the actual question hanging over the project, and it is the reason the test has attracted so much attention.
PvPvE is also a genuinely awkward category. Done badly it becomes a deathmatch with decorative monsters. Done well it creates moments where two players circling each other both have to decide whether the bigger threat is the other one or the thing that just walked into the room.
Exclusivity Is The Bigger Story
A FromSoftware exclusive on a Nintendo platform would have sounded implausible a few years ago. The studio has built its modern reputation across PlayStation, Xbox and PC, and its audience skews heavily toward those platforms.
For Nintendo, locking down a developer with this level of goodwill is a meaningful statement about what the Switch 2 is supposed to be. It is a hardware argument disguised as a game announcement.
Network Tests Are Not Demos
It is worth being clear about what a closed network test is. It exists to stress server infrastructure, matchmaking and netcode under real conditions. It is not a marketing preview and it is not a finished slice of the game.
Participants should expect rough edges, missing content and possible downtime. Judging the final product on a network test build is a mistake that gets made every time one of these runs.
The commercial logic runs both ways. FromSoftware gets guaranteed marketing support and a hardware launch window rather than fighting for attention in a crowded release calendar, which for an unfamiliar genre experiment is worth a great deal.
Why Multiplayer Is The Hard Part
FromSoftware’s combat is built on precise timing windows, deliberate animations and heavy commitment to each attack. That design is unusually sensitive to latency, because a few frames of delay changes whether a dodge reads as skilful or unfair.
Making that feel right across variable connections on a handheld capable console is a serious engineering problem. That is almost certainly why a network test exists at all rather than a conventional beta.
The Community Reaction Has Been Split
Enthusiasm is high but not universal. A visible portion of the audience wanted another single player title and views a multiplayer focused exclusive as a detour, and some of that frustration is about platform rather than genre.
Both reactions are reasonable. A studio with this track record has earned the benefit of the doubt on an experiment, and players who bought into a specific kind of game are allowed to be disappointed that this is not it.
What To Watch During The Test
The things worth paying attention to are unglamorous. Matchmaking times, connection stability during dense encounters, and whether the PvPvE structure produces interesting standoffs or just chaotic pile ons.
Also watch how the game handles players who lose. FromSoftware built its reputation on failure feeling instructive, and multiplayer failure is much harder to make feel fair than dying to a boss pattern you can learn.
Balance data matters more than impressions here. A test of this size mainly exists to find the character or tactic that quietly ruins every match, and those problems surface in aggregate numbers long before any individual player notices them.
Should You Care If You Did Not Get In
Not especially. Test slots are limited by infrastructure capacity, not merit, and there will almost certainly be further testing phases before launch. Footage will be everywhere within hours of the test opening.
The more useful move is deciding whether you want a competitive FromSoftware game at all. If you are building out a hobby around this kind of fandom, our guide to starting a collection from scratch covers the same instinct in a different medium.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does The Duskbloods network test start?
The closed network test begins on August 21, 2026. Selected participants receive their download codes on August 18, and selection results went live on August 7.
What platform is The Duskbloods on?
It is being developed as a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive by FromSoftware, the studio behind Dark Souls, Bloodborne and Elden Ring.
What kind of game is it?
It is an online multiplayer action game built around a player versus player versus environment structure, which is a significant departure from FromSoftware’s single player focused catalogue.
Is there a release date?
No official release date has been announced. Coverage suggests a 2026 launch is expected, but that should be treated as unconfirmed until FromSoftware or Nintendo says so directly.
How do I check if I was selected?
Selection status is checked through your Nintendo account on the official test page. Codes are distributed to selected participants ahead of the August 21 start.
Will there be another test?
Nothing has been confirmed, but additional testing phases before launch are common for online games at this stage of development.
