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FromSoftware announced on its official X account on October 29, 2026 that The Duskbloods, the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive multiplayer action game, is moving from 2026 to 2027. The stated reason is to “set aside a period for final adjustments to the game rules and balance.” The official site has also been updated to read “scheduled for release in 2027.”
The basis for the delay is the network test held from August 21 to 24, 2026. FromSoftware said that players responded to the concept of a game you can play through positioning and a breadth of strategies rather than direct combat alone, and that it wants to realize that concept at an even higher level. A specific release month, a price, and whether any additional test will be held after the delay have not been announced as of October 30, 2026.
This article covers the full official comment, what was going on during the network test, what the delay changes and does not change, and the timeline from the first reveal in April 2025 to today. The upshot is that one of Switch 2’s big 2026 exclusives has vanished from the calendar.
Let’s start with what the official side actually said.
Why was The Duskbloods delayed to 2027?
To secure a balancing period that lets the team deliver the “varied positioning and diverse strategies” concept praised in the network test at a higher level. FromSoftware’s official X account made the announcement on October 29, 2026.
In order to realize at an even higher level the concept that all of you valued — that this game can be enjoyed not only through direct combat but through varied positioning and diverse strategies — and to deliver a better game experience, we have decided to set aside a period for final adjustments to the game rules and balance.
Source:FromSoftware official X (as published by Famitsu.com)
There are two ways to read this. One is to take it at face value: the win conditions outside of combat were working properly, and there was not enough time to polish them without cutting them. The other is that those non-combat win conditions were either too strong or too weak, and the rules themselves needed surgery. Given that the wording is “final adjustments to the game rules,” it is safer to assume changes are coming that go beyond numerical tuning.
FromSoftware has shifted an announced release date before, with both SEKIRO and ELDEN RING in the conversation. ELDEN RING moved roughly a month, from January 21 to February 25, 2022, while SEKIRO was never delayed. This time the change is from the broad “2026” to “2027,” a bigger swing than anything in the past. A release this year is now completely off the table, and not even the official site says which month of 2027 it will be.
What did we already know from August’s network test?
The network test ran from August 21 to 24, 2026 across five slots, and server trouble during the first session left some participants unable to play properly. The game is a PvPvE format in which up to eight “Bloodsworn” take part in a “Twilight Battle,” with ways to win by completing objectives rather than only by killing the other players.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Dates | August 21 to 24, 2026 |
| Slots | Five (fixed time windows) |
| Entry requirements | Winning the lottery, plus a Nintendo Switch Online membership |
| First session | Hit by server trouble |
| Format | PvPvE multiplayer action for up to eight players |
| How you win | Direct combat, plus varied positioning and diverse strategies (per the official comment) |
The official comment on the delay cites the very parts of that test players “valued” as its reason. In other words, FromSoftware is saying this is not a delay to fix what went down badly, but a delay to extend what went down well. Surely the number of unpopular elements was not zero, but the comment does not touch the infrastructure problems exposed by the first session’s server trouble. This statement is kept strictly to game design.
What I want to know is whether the extra time will include a second network test. If you are going to operate on the rules, the proper move is to put them back in players’ hands and check. There is no notice of an additional test as of October 30, 2026, but there is every chance an announcement arrives once 2027 starts. Keep that official X account followed.
The Duskbloods’ basic details and the road from April 2025
The Duskbloods is a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive developed and published by FromSoftware, first shown at the Nintendo Direct on April 2, 2025. Hidetaka Miyazaki is directing. It was “scheduled for 2026” at reveal, and roughly a year and a half later, on October 29, 2026, it was pushed to 2027.
| Item | Details (as of October 30, 2026) |
|---|---|
| Title | The Duskbloods |
| Genre | Multiplayer action (PvPvE) |
| Platform | Nintendo Switch 2 (exclusive) |
| Players | Up to eight |
| Release window | Planned for 2027 (changed from 2026) |
| Price | Not announced |
| Developer / publisher | FromSoftware |
| Director | Hidetaka Miyazaki |
| First revealed | Nintendo Direct, April 2, 2025 |
| Network test | August 21 to 24, 2026 |
Looked at as part of Switch 2’s 2026 lineup, losing a brand-new FromSoftware game is no small thing. FromSoftware’s own ELDEN RING Tarnished Edition is already out on Switch 2, so “playing a FromSoftware game on Switch 2” is something you can already do. But that is a port, and The Duskbloods is an original title exclusive to Nintendo hardware. The meaning is completely different.
When will we learn the release month, the price and any further tests?
As of October 30, 2026, there is no official announcement of the release month, the price, or any additional network test after the delay. The official site says only “scheduled for release in 2027.”
Looking at FromSoftware’s past games, release dates tend to get locked in four to six months before launch. If it lands in the first half of 2027, news should follow around the end of this year or the start of next; if the second half, spring 2027 is the natural window. There is also a chance the date drops during one of Nintendo’s own Nintendo Direct showcases. It is a Switch 2 exclusive, so it would be no surprise to see it in Nintendo’s announcement slot.
Being on the waiting end is genuinely frustrating, but the more you felt during the network test that “winning without fighting is actually fun,” the more you stand to gain from having that polished for 2027 instead of trimmed away so the game could ship this year. I was one of the people who lost the lottery in August, so if there is a next test, that is the best possible outcome for me.
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Summing up: The Duskbloods moves to 2027 to buy time for rule adjustments
FromSoftware announced on October 29, 2026 that The Duskbloods, exclusive to Nintendo Switch 2, is delayed from 2026 to 2027. The reason is final adjustments to the game rules and balance, so the team can realize at a higher level the “varied positioning and diverse strategies” concept that players valued in the August 21 to 24, 2026 network test. It is a PvPvE multiplayer action game for up to eight players, directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki. The release month, the price, and whether there will be an additional test are all unannounced as of October 30, 2026.
Stating outright that the delay exists “to extend what players valued” is unusually specific for FromSoftware. If the studio is seriously trying to make a competitive game that is not combat-only work, then spending time on the rules is the right call. Still, Switch 2’s 2026 is down one big exclusive. This is a painful delay for Nintendo too.
If it has stretched into 2027, I’ll wait and hope the invite to a second test turns up.
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