The lack of news on The Duskbloods – finally ended by June’s Nintendo Direct announcement of a playtest – has kept the hype for FromSoftware’s next game at bay for now, but that could change as soon as next month, when players finally get a taste of what the studio has been cooking.
Via the game’s official site, it’s been revealed the closed network playtest will take place from 21st to 24th August, even if the initial message sets the 23rd as the final day. To apply for a chance to get in, players need to own a Nintendo Switch 2 console (of course) and an active Switch Online membership, which is a point worth underlining. The game was confirmed to be an online PvPvE experience last year, yet it’d be reasonable to expect a closed test to welcome all sorts of users. Alas, that isn’t happening here.
The application period will also be extremely specific, with registrations starting 22nd July (Wednesday) at 15:00 BST and ending 28th July (Tuesday) at 14:59 BST. After that step, players will need to wait until 7th August (Friday) at 14:00 BST to learn if they’re in or not. For some reason, this whole process is more complex, prolonged, and time-sensitive than similar ones in the past.
Perhaps less surprising is the fact that ‘the lucky ones’ will need to mark specific times and dates on their calendars. Network tests typically aim to put serious pressure on the server infrastructure and to group players together, and these are the slots when the game servers will be online:
- 21st August (Fri) at 11:00 to 15:00 BST
- 22nd August (Sat) at 03:00 to 07:00 BST
- 22nd August (Sat) at 19:00 to 23:00 BST
- 23rd August (Sun) at 11:00 to 15:00 BST
- 24th August (Mon) at 03:00 to 07:00 BST
FromSoftware is letting everyone know in advance bugs are to be expected and the balance isn’t fully baked yet. It might sound obvious, but some players still expect closed pre-release tests to be smooth sailing – FromSoft is doing its due diligence here, then. While it’s unclear what the final game modes and player counts will be like, The Duskbloods’ playtest will allow “up to eight players” to participate in online matches. Expect hacking and slashing, but most of what the game will offer is still shrouded in mystery.
So far, Nintendo (publisher) and FromSoftware have delivered on the promise of giving us more news in 2026, but it remains to be seen whether The Duskbloods will actually release before the year ends or slip into 2027. Here’s hoping for a smooth ride next month.
