The Duskbloods Network Test Confirmed: FromSoftware’s 8-Player PvPvE Nears Switch 2 Launch

FromSoftware's long-awaited Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive The Duskbloods returned at today's Nintendo Direct with its first substantial update in over a year: a Closed Network Test confirmed for Summer 2026, and a new trailer offering the clearest look yet at the game's match-based, eight-player Player versus Player versus Environment structure. No release date was announced for the full game, but the beta confirmation signals that director Hidetaka Miyazaki's most ambitious genre departure — and the studio's first game exclusive to a Nintendo home console in 23 years — is on schedule for a 2026 launch.

The Direct, held Tuesday, June 9, was Nintendo's first full general showcase since September 2025. Today's update on The Duskbloods ended roughly 14 months of near-total silence since the game was first unveiled alongside the Switch 2 in April 2025.

Duskbloods Closed Network Test Coming Summer 2026

FromSoftware confirmed the Closed Network Test in a brief announcement accompanying the trailer, stating the test is "coming soon" and that "details regarding tester applications and other information will be announced at a later date." No sign-up window, test duration, or regional availability has been released yet. The test will run on Nintendo Switch 2 exclusively.

The company's most recent comparable test, for the Elden Ring spin-off Nightreign, offers a rough frame of reference: Nightreign's Closed Network Test was announced in December 2024, sign-ups opened in January 2025, and the test ran in February 2025 — roughly two months from announcement to test. Nightreign's full release followed approximately five months after the test concluded. If The Duskbloods follows a similar arc, a test window in July or August and a fourth-quarter 2026 full release would be consistent — though FromSoftware has made no such commitment.

PvPvE Multiplayer Design: How Duskbloods Matches Work

The Duskbloods represents a fundamental shift in FromSoftware's design philosophy, not merely a genre pivot. In every previous game the studio has released — including the Dark Souls trilogy, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring — multiplayer was an optional layer on top of a solo-complete experience. Players could invade, cooperate, or ignore other players entirely. In The Duskbloods, competitive player conflict is the structural core of every match: there is no single-player mode to fall back on.

Each match supports up to eight players, all competing as the "Bloodsworn" — vampire-like warriors granted superhuman abilities through what Miyazaki described in his Creator's Voice interview as "the power of special blood." Players choose from a roster of over a dozen pre-built characters, each with unique weapons (including firearms), abilities, and movement options. All Bloodsworn share a common set of superhuman traits — sprinting, super jumps, and double jumps — and every character has some means of attacking at range, a design decision Miyazaki flagged as deliberate.

Character customization goes beyond visual options. Each Bloodsworn's "blood history and fate" determines an in-match role. Miyazaki compared these roles to party assignments in tabletop role-playing games. Two confirmed roles are Destined Rivals, which requires a player to find and defeat a designated opponent, and Destined Companion, which tasks a player with seeking out a specific ally in exchange for a special reward. These objectives layer on top of the broader competitive loop, producing situations in which two players might temporarily ally against a powerful boss while simultaneously knowing they are each other's designated targets.

Victory Points accumulated through combat, objective completion, and enemy kills determine match outcomes. Matches end when one player remains, though event-based systems can introduce cooperative boss encounters that require temporary team-ups. A hub area handles character customization between matches; players earn rewards regardless of win or loss, which can be reinvested in builds.

This architecture — discrete match sessions, a pre-built roster, a hub between rounds, multiple simultaneous victory conditions, and event-driven cooperation — is structurally distinct from anything FromSoftware has previously shipped.

What Makes Duskbloods Different From Elden Ring Nightreign

FromSoftware released two multiplayer experiments in consecutive years, and the distinction matters for understanding what The Duskbloods demands from players.

Elden Ring Nightreign, released May 2025, is a three-player cooperative roguelite. Players work together against AI opponents across a three-day in-game cycle; all conflict is between players and the game's world, never between players themselves. Cooperation is the game's premise.

The Duskbloods inverts that assumption. In every match, the other seven players are potential adversaries. The official trailer description released alongside today's announcement describes players as "occasionally forming transient alliances on your path to victory" — an explicit signal that cooperation, when it occurs, is tactical and temporary. Players may team up to kill a boss and then immediately turn on each other once it is gone.

Scale is also a significant structural difference: Nightreign's three-player cap produced a focused co-op experience. Eight simultaneous players in a PvPvE environment produces a far wider chaos ceiling — more variables, more potential betrayals per match, and a larger skill gap between experienced and new players.

Miyazaki addressed fans concerned that these two consecutive multiplayer releases signal a studio-wide pivot. He stated in the Creator's Voice interview that The Duskbloods "doesn't mean that we as a company have decided to shift to a more multiplayer-focused direction with titles going forward."

FromSoftware's First Nintendo Home Console Exclusive Since Lost Kingdoms II

The Duskbloods carries a historical footnote: it is FromSoftware's first game exclusive to a Nintendo home console since Lost Kingdoms II on the GameCube in 2003. The two Lost Kingdoms games — card-based RPGs published by Activision in North America — predate the Soulslike era entirely and occupy a largely forgotten corner of the studio's back catalog. The 23-year gap between Lost Kingdoms II and The Duskbloods encompasses the entirety of the studio's identity as the world came to know it.

The exclusivity arrangement with Nintendo differs from prior platform partnerships. Demon's Souls (2009) was published by Sony for PlayStation 3, as was Bloodborne (2015) for PlayStation 4, and both remain PlayStation exclusives. The Duskbloods, by contrast, is a Nintendo-funded project: Miyazaki confirmed in the Creator's Voice interview that Nintendo approached FromSoftware with the idea. The project began development for the original Switch before Nintendo informed the studio about Switch 2, at which point the team revamped their approach to take advantage of the new hardware's enhanced online infrastructure.

Fan response to the exclusivity has been divided. A portion of the Soulsborne community has expressed frustration that a Miyazaki-directed title would remain permanently unavailable on PlayStation, Xbox, or PC, echoing longstanding frustration over Bloodborne's PlayStation lock-in. The multiplayer-only structure has also drawn skepticism from fans hoping for a single-player Elden Ring successor, a concern Miyazaki directly addressed.

What Comes Next for Duskbloods Players

The immediate step for players interested in the Closed Network Test is to monitor FromSoftware's official channels for sign-up details. No platform, URL, eligibility criteria, or application window has been disclosed. The Duskbloods is confirmed for a 2026 launch on Nintendo Switch 2 — a window Kadokawa, FromSoftware's parent company, reaffirmed in its fiscal year 2026 earnings report in May — but no specific release date has been set.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is The Duskbloods Closed Network Test?

The Duskbloods Closed Network Test was confirmed for Summer 2026 at the June 9 Nintendo Direct, but no specific dates have been announced. Sign-up details and application information will be released by FromSoftware at a later date. Summer 2026 runs from June 21 through September 22, giving the studio roughly three months to open the test.

Is The Duskbloods coming to PS5, Xbox, or PC?

The Duskbloods is confirmed as a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive and has not been announced for any other platform. Nintendo funded the project's development, making a future multi-platform release unlikely — though FromSoftware has not publicly addressed post-launch platform plans.

How is The Duskbloods different from Elden Ring Nightreign?

Nightreign is a three-player cooperative PvE roguelite in which all players work together against AI opponents. The Duskbloods is an eight-player PvPvE game where players compete against each other and AI enemies simultaneously, with competitive conflict at the structural core of every match. Cooperation in The Duskbloods is temporary and tactical; in Nightreign, it is the entire premise.

What gameplay did FromSoftware show for The Duskbloods at today's Direct?

The trailer shown at the June 9 Nintendo Direct was primarily atmospheric, offering glimpses of the game's gothic setting and Bloodsworn characters rather than detailed gameplay footage. The most significant announcement was the Closed Network Test confirmation. Specific mechanics — including the full character roster, complete role list, and map designs — remain undisclosed pending further reveals.