Everyone knows that the biggest game releasing in November 2026—and indeed, the whole year—is Grand Theft Auto 6. This is why it’s interesting that the second-biggest game of November is most likely going to be The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a remake of the 1998 original, which is widely considered an inimitable masterwork. Time will tell just how well this remake lands, but at the very least, it will introduce the classic Zelda formula to a new generation.
But for my money, Nintendo’s most promising upcoming game isn’t Zelda-related. FromSoftware’s The Duskbloods was originally slated for a 2026 release, and I anticipated it as potentially one of the biggest sleeper hits of the year. Audiences have been a bit lukewarm on The Duskbloods, likely because it’s been erroneously associated with Elden Ring Nightreign, FromSoft’s most recent co-op game that’s decidedly more niche than its other projects. I believe that The Duskbloods could vastly surpass Nightreign, though, emerging as one of the Switch 2’s killer apps. In other words, it could have been a massive system-seller for Nintendo this holiday season, but now that FromSoftware has opted to delay The Duskbloods to an unspecified date in 2027, it looks like that ship has sailed.
With No Duskbloods, the Nintendo Switch 2’s Winter Season Just Got a Lot Colder
Hands-on previews for The Duskbloods have been positive, and the game’s time-bending premise certainly sounds intriguing, but the real reason why the game is so enticing comes down to the involvement of one man: Hidetaka Miyazaki. Establishing himself as an industry luminary with Demon’s Souls, perhaps the single most influential action game of the 2010s, Miyazaki has gone on to direct some of the most well-received RPGs of all time, including:
- Dark Souls
- Bloodborne
- Dark Souls 3
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
- Elden Ring
It’s hard to imagine a more impressive CV; just about any of these titles can be considered the peak of the action-RPG genre. A single person can never take absolute credit for a studio’s success, but it’s worth noting two games that are absent from the above list: Dark Souls 2 and Elden Ring Nightreign. I have nothing against those titles, but they are undeniably the least critically acclaimed of all the post-Demon’s Souls FromSoftware games, and they also happen to be among the few modern FromSoft games not directed by Miyazaki. Simple pattern recognition indicates that he brings a lot to the table as a director.
With the acclaimed director mounting his return with The Duskbloods, audiences ought to expect the unexpected. At least, they should anticipate something more monumental than Elden Ring Nightreign, never mind The Duskbloods‘ cooperative multiplayer focus. I’d also like to point out that FromSoftware’s last proper console exclusive was quite a doozy: Bloodborne is a big reason why the PlayStation 4 is considered to have one of the best exclusives libraries ever. If The Duskbloods turned out to be, in essence, the Switch 2’s version of Bloodborne, we would all probably start discussing the console a bit differently.
I believe that The Duskbloods could vastly surpass Nightreign, though, emerging as one of the Switch 2’s killer apps.
Instead, we are left with the Ocarina of Time remake which, to be fair, looks very promising, and it’s built on one of the greatest video games ever made, but it’s still just a remake, with what appear to be only cursory changes to mechanics and structure. It’s nowhere near as weird and complex as The Duskbloods seems to be. That’s disappointing to me—I like weird games, and I like weird FromSoftware games especially. But on a more pragmatic level, Nintendo’s 2026 catalog has just missed an opportunity to cater to a new demographic. Indeed, I’m sure there would have been plenty of new Switch 2’s purchased by non-Nintendo fans looking to pick up the next Miyazaki-led masterpiece, if that’s indeed what The Duskbloods will be. Now, that’ll have to wait.
The Duskbloods Could Still Be a Crown Jewel for Nintendo
Having said all that, I still have high hopes for The Duskbloods, not only as it relates to the game itself, but also insofar as it will positively affect the Nintendo Switch 2. We don’t know exactly what 2027 has in store for Nintendo fans, and the delay of The Duskbloods only furthers this sense of enigma. At the same time, the game’s push into 2027 promises to make that year a big one for the Switch 2.
I’m not saying that console exclusivity is outright good: it would be great if great games simply came to every platform, but that’s not the reality we live in. The truth is, games like Bloodborne, God of War (2018), Breath of the Wild, and even the first Halo, which are considered among the greatest ever made, probably would have never been made were it not for the competitive edge offered by the exclusivity philosophy. Even so, we’ve seen platform-holders become far less competitive with their exclusives in recent years; we haven’t really seen a proper “system seller” in quite some time. The Duskbloods could change that.
- Released
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2027
- Multiplayer
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Online Multiplayer
- Number of Players
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1-8 players
