The Duskbloods Delayed to 2027: FromSoftware Pushes Its Switch 2 Exclusive Out of 2026
FromSoftware has moved The Duskbloods, its Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, from a vague 2026 launch window into an unspecified point in 2027. The studio says development is at the final adjustment stage and frames the delay as time for rules and balance work driven by feedback from an August network test. No firm release date, price or further schedule has been confirmed.
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The Duskbloods, FromSoftware's Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, has slipped out of its previously announced 2026 window and into an unspecified point in 2027, the studio confirmed in statements reported on 28 October 2026 ¹. The game had been publicly attached only to the year 2026, never to a specific day.
The wording of the announcement is unusually specific for a delay. FromSoftware said development is at "the final adjustment stage," which reads less like a project being rebuilt and more like one being tuned ². In the fuller statement, the studio said it would "allocate a period for final adjustments to the game rules and balance," describing the goal as raising the game's concept — play that rewards manoeuvring and varied strategies, not just direct combat — to a higher level based on what players did during the network test held in August ³.
That test appears to be the hinge of the decision. FromSoftware said the network test showed active interest in combat, strategic depth and player expression, and that the extra time is meant to strengthen those elements. In plain terms, the studio is describing a balancing pass aimed at the PvPvE systems rather than a rescue operation, though that is my reading of the statements rather than anything the studio spelled out.
There was also an expectation problem to manage. Eurogamer notes that a September launch had been speculated about, that the month passed without an announcement, and that neither Nintendo nor FromSoftware had said anything since the August playtests — which is why the vague 2026 window already looked shaky to many observers. The same report says more people applied to take part in the closed network test than applied for Elden Ring Nightreign, a striking figure given that Nightreign is an established release from the same studio. Polygon, meanwhile, frames The Duskbloods as FromSoftware's first new game since last year's Elden Ring Nightreign.
What's still unknown
The exact 2027 date is not confirmed, and neither is a month or quarter. There is no word on whether another network test is planned, whether pre-orders will open before a firm date exists, or what the game will cost. Whether the 2027 window itself holds is also unverified — the studio has now moved the target once, and a single year is a wide goalpost.
For buyers, the practical consequence is simple: The Duskbloods should not be treated as a reason to plan a console purchase in the near term. It is a Switch 2 exclusive, so the shift does nothing for anyone still weighing older Nintendo hardware such as the Nintendo Switch Lite, and for prospective Switch 2 owners it removes one of the more anticipated exclusives from the 2026 calendar without replacing it with a date they can plan around. Anyone budgeting around the game now has a year-shaped gap rather than a schedule.
Sources
- ¹ Switch 2 Exclusive The Duskbloods Delayed To 2027 www.gamespot.com
- ² FromSoft's Switch 2 exclusive, The Duskbloods, has been delayed into 2027 www.eurogamer.net
- ³ FromSoftware's The Duskbloods Officially Delayed, Now Set for 2027 www.polygon.com
