Following the release of Elden Ring, FromSoftware did not bow to investor pressure to develop a safe sequel. Instead, it began experimenting with multiplayer-centric titles, including Elden Ring: Nightreign (which exceeded many players' expectations) and the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, The Duskbloods.
Reportedly, the latter was developed entirely thanks to Nintendo's support. Nevertheless, a large number of players may never get to experience this game. However, PC players still have a glimmer of hope: currently, the closed beta client for The Duskbloods is already running on the PC platform. If the Nintendo Switch 2 hacking community can continue to find other vulnerabilities after the first jailbreak exploit used to extract the game client becomes obsolete, then when the game officially launches in 2027, the full version might also make its way to PC.
The official description of the playDB-CNT project on GitHub states:
"This is a small launcher for Windows and Linux that allows you to run the network test version of The Duskbloods on Eglantine-based Switch 2 emulators (including Eglantine, Lichii, and Eden-style builds). The project provides online functionality through locally simulated servers, allowing for personal offline use (limited to localhost connections) or enabling a group of friends to play together."
Being able to run The Duskbloods on PC, even supporting experimental online modes, is undoubtedly the most astonishing aspect of this project. Of course, achieving online functionality requires some relatively complex setup, which is to be expected for such projects.
The project's official introduction to the online features is as follows:
"The Online tab offers three modes: Play Alone (the same offline mode as before), Create Room, and Join Room. All players entering the same room password are matched together: one player creates the room, and others join by entering the host's address."
"In-game battles establish connections directly between emulators; servers do not act as relay nodes. Therefore, all players must be on the same home network, or use virtual private networks such as ZeroTier (recommended), Tailscale, or Radmin VPN, or set up port forwarding via their router. The Online tab lists the required ports."
Regardless of how complex the online setup process is, the fact that The Duskbloods closed beta client can run on PC is itself a remarkable achievement, comparable in significance to the previous successful PC port of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
We hope that upon the game's official release, players beyond the Nintendo Switch 2 will have a chance to experience this title through some means. After all, every game from FromSoftware boasts an engaging worldview, and The Duskbloods is no exception. Furthermore, its gameplay attempts to bring something new to the Japanese studio, with design concepts quite similar to the models adopted by Team Ninja in hardcore action games like Nioh 3.