[UPDATE] The Duskbloods Network Test Starts Today, and the Footage Has Already Leaked

The bit that's confirmed first: FromSoftware's The Duskbloods kicks off its closed network test today, running from August 21 to August 24 across a handful of four-hour sessions. If you registered back in July and got the nod, you're in; if you didn't, this one's not open to latecomers — you need a Switch 2 and an active Nintendo Switch Online membership, and the sign-up window shut weeks ago.

Now the unconfirmed part, so take it as a rumour: gameplay from the test has reportedly already leaked ahead of the sessions going live, which is roughly what happens to every closed test the moment it touches real hardware. We haven't linked the footage, and until FromSoftware or Nintendo says otherwise, treat anything doing the rounds as early, unfinished, and not the final look at the game.

What's actually being tested

The Duskbloods is FromSoftware's stab at multiplayer PvPvE, directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, and it's a Switch 2 exclusive due sometime in 2026. A network test is exactly what it sounds like: they're hammering the netcode and matchmaking with real players before launch, not showing off a polished vertical slice. Judge the connection quality, not the frame rate.

It's an interesting one to watch regardless. FromSoftware doing competitive multiplayer, on Nintendo hardware, is not a sentence anyone had on their card a couple of years ago. Whether the Bloodborne-adjacent combat everyone's imagining actually holds up when other players are involved is the whole question — and a four-day test is where the first honest answers come from.

For the full breakdown of the test and how sign-ups worked, we covered it when the dates were announced.