This week we got our first serious look at Shadow of the Erdtree, and it looks like FromSoft is out to exceed its own incredibly high DLC standards. But let’s put 2022’s hottest title to one side for a moment, because what matters is that the Erdtree trailer has been accompanied by FromSoftware CEO Hidetaka Miyazaki giving some interviews about the game: during some of which he was asked about my own white whale, the endless rumours and requests for a Bloodborne PC release and/or remaster.
The 2015 PlayStation 4 exclusive remains locked to that platform (and 30FPS), despite being in many folks’ eyes the finest game this exceptional studio has yet produced. It seems inconceivable, given the success of the Souls games, nevermind Elden Ring, that it will not at some point be the subject of a port or remaster effort (honestly: I’ll take anything). It is also a topic on which Miyazaki, who wrote and directed the game, has been as enigmatic as possible.
But that doesn’t stop the asking. IGN went up first and ran straight into a classic misdirection. “Unfortunately, and I’ve said this in other interviews, it’s not in my place to talk about Bloodborne specifically,” said Miyazaki. “We simply don’t own the IP at FromSoftware. For me personally, it was a great project, and I have a lot of great memories for that game, but we’re not at liberty to speak to it.”
It’s always been known that Bloodborne is a Sony IP, and so ultimately the decision does rest there, but y’know I kinda think Hidetaka Miyazaki’s name may have some sway over at PlayStation HQ. Given Sony’s move in recent years towards more cross-platform releases and double-dipping on PC with its big exclusives, you’d also say that now more than ever feels like the right time for the Yharnam night time.
Eurogamer had a little more luck, though with this guy everything is relative. They asked directly about the possibility of a Bloodborne remake and, while Miyazaki did once again crank up the deflecto-tron, he at least mused a little about the game’s passionate fanbase and what remakes can bring.
“It is a title we hold very dear and just as much as our fans,” Miyazaki told Eurogamer. “It does make me very happy to see that there are still so many people passionate about it.”
Almost a decade after release, the available hardware is also much-improved, and the one thing with Bloodborne everyone would like to see is an uncapped framerate. “I think having new hardware is definitely a part of what gives these remakes value,” says Miyazaki. “Things you weren’t able to achieve on previous generations of hardware, ways you weren’t able to render specific expressions, [this] sometimes makes it possible.
“However, I wouldn’t say that’s the be all and end all. I think purely from a user perspective, modern hardware also allows more players to appreciate all the games. And so, it ends up being a simple reason, but as a fellow player, I think that accessibility is important. I think that can be the driving force between bringing an old game to a new platform.”
I mean, let’s hope it is. I can only imagine Miyazaki would want his magnum opus to find as wide an audience as possible, and he finishes up by talking about the developers who worked on it and the fans who adore it.
“Put simply, it makes me very happy to see it’s a title with a lot of specific memories, both for me and the staff who worked on it,” said Miyazaki. “And when we see those passionate voices in the community, of course it makes us feel thrilled, it makes us feel very fortunate to have that and to have those memories.”
It is somewhat funny that part of Bloodborne’s schtick is people being slowly driven mad and transformed, often warped beyond recognition through their lust for the forbidden. And as someone who prizes this game above all others, it is absolutely maddening to have it sitting there on PS4 when the rest of FromSoftare’s stuff (outside of Demon’s Souls) is so easily available on PC. Come on Sony: break the internet.
Guess I’ll just have to rely on Shadow of the Erdtree for this year’s fix. But expectations there can be justifiably high: perhaps the most striking signal of intent is the whopping $40 price tag alongside Miyazaki describing this as the company’s “largest expansion to date“. What can you say other than FromSoftware certainly knows what it’s doing, and here’s the reveals from the trailer that had us shaking (like a leaf) in excitement.
