FromSoftware's Duskbloods is a Massive Break From 23-Year-Old Tradition

One of the most anticipated Nintendo Switch 2 games of 2026 is The Duskbloods, FromSoftware’s latest soulslike game that features eight-player PVP and PVE gameplay. Although FromSoftware is not known for its Nintendo console support, bringing games like Dark Souls Remastered and Elden Ring to Nintendo platforms long after they release on other systems, The Duskbloods is set to be a Switch 2 exclusive. With the release of The Duskbloods later this year, FromSoftware will finally break its 23-year trend of avoiding Nintendo exclusive games.

Drawing clear inspiration from FromSoftware’s past games like Bloodborne and Elden Ring: Nightreign, The Duskbloods follows characters known as the Bloodsworn in a gothic fantasy setting. Similar to Elden Ring: Nightreign, players will choose which class of Bloodsworn to play as, and each one has its own unique weapons and abilities. Although players will be able to customize their characters to a degree, the player’s chosen Bloodsworn will affect the role they play during a match.

FromSoftware’s Duskbloods Gets an Encouraging Update

Developer FromSoftware addresses The Duskbloods’ development, and it seems like good news for those anticipating the Nintendo Switch 2 game.

The Duskbloods Will Be the First FromSoftware Game Exclusive to a Nintendo Console Since 2003

FromSoftware hasn’t been synonymous with Nintendo for a long time, but that doesn’t mean the two companies haven’t collaborated in the past. Before FromSoftware became entrenched in the soulslike genre following the release of Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, its most notable games came from the King’s Field and Armored Core franchises. Outside these two series, FromSoftware also released a variety of other RPGs, many of which never made their way outside of Japan, but among these releases was a duology of GameCube exclusives that marked the last time the developer partnered with Nintendo for a console exclusive.

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The Duskbloods doesn’t have an official release date yet, but FromSoftware has remained committed to a 2026 launch window.

Lost Kingdoms: FromSoftware’s Forgotten GameCube Card-Based Action RPG Series

Lost Kingdoms and its sequel, Lost Kingdoms 2, were released on the GameCube back in 2002 and 2003, respectively, putting a gap of 23 years between the last time FromSoftware had a Nintendo console exclusive and The Duskbloods. While FromSoftware’s auteur game director and architect of the developer’s modern library, Hidetaka Miyazaki, didn’t work on the Lost Kingdoms games, it’s easy to see where a lot of the groundwork for what would become Demon’s Souls, and eventually Dark Souls, was laid with these games. However, the real hook of the Lost Kingdoms series is its card-based battle system, which combined with active combat to create a unique deck-building action RPG.

The Story of Lost Kingdoms

For longtime FromSoftware fans, the basic premise of Lost Kingdoms will sound familiar: a mysterious fog is enveloping the land of Argwyll and demons are emerging from it. The king of Argwyll attempts to venture forth to find the source of this fog and stop it from consuming his kingdom, with the protagonist, Princess Katia, following behind her father soon after he leaves. She brings the kingdom’s Runestone along with her, allowing her to use cards for combat. Like Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, the use of fog as a barrier between the realm of humans and demons is a common theme that Lost Kingdoms shares, and it establishes a motif that other FromSoftware games would use in the future.

Lost Kingdoms 2 takes place centuries after the first game, where Katia of Argwyll is regarded as a heroic queen. This sequel instead focuses on a new protagonist, Tara Grimstone, who also has the ability to wield cards for combat via the same type of Runestone that Katia possessed. A major part of Lost Kingdoms 2 is the exploration of the Runestone’s origins, although gameplay remains very similar to the original.

The Gameplay of Lost Kingdoms

Card-based RPGs were strangely popular in the early 2000s, especially on Nintendo platforms. While the Game Boy Advance had Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories in 2004, the GameCube saw Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean released that same year. However, the previous two years also saw card-based RPGs on the GameCube, with both Lost Kingdom games featuring this combat style.

Scratch & Peek

Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as
possible.

Scratch & Peek

Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as possible.

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Lost Kingdoms uses a similar UI to FromSoftware games like Demon’s Souls, where the four cards in the player’s hand are assigned to a specific button arranged in a diamond shape on the screen. Players use these cards during active combat encounters to cast skills, but a card is used up once it is played. This means that players are encouraged to collect more cards either by purchasing or convincing defeated enemies to become cards in their deck. This creature collection mechanic gives the Lost Kingdoms games a feel almost like Pokemon or Shin Megami Tensei, allowing players to use the enemies they face for their own purposes.

Also like these creature-collecting JRPGs is Lost Kingdoms‘s elemental system, which features a rock-paper-scissors-style type trumping mechanic for combat. Each card has a different elemental type: fire, water, earth, wood, and neutral, with mechanical being added as another type in Lost Kingdoms 2, and each one having the type advantage over another. This mechanic adds another layer of strategy to Lost Kingdoms‘s combat, meaning players will constantly need to evaluate their deck to overcome deficiencies as they work their way through the game.

How The Duskbloods is Set to Inherit the Legacy of Lost Kingdoms

Despite being a single-player game first and foremost, Lost Kingdoms does contain a multiplayer element. The original game features a two-player PVP mode, where players can battle against each other using separate decks. While this is a far cry from the eight-player gameplay that The Duskbloods features, it does follow the trend of FromSoftware games, including an element of multiplayer in single-player-centric games.

The legacy that The Duskbloods stands to inherit the most from Lost Kingdoms is its uniquely Nintendo experience. Given that card-based battle systems were popular among Nintendo exclusives back in the early 2000s, it’s clear to see how Lost Kingdoms established its identity as a blend of FromSoftware staples with a Nintendo feel. The Switch 2 is arguably one of the best platforms for multiplayer, given its portability and reasonable Nintendo Switch Online price. So, it makes sense that The Duskbloods would once again blend the iconic features of FromSoftware games with one of Nintendo’s strongest selling points for its current console generation.