Bloodborne fans have spent years waiting for a sign of anything—a sequel, remaster, port—being done to their favorite PlayStation 4 exclusive. But as time has passed without even a whiff of a PS5 update, some have lost hope. Now, Sony has hit back with the perfect troll that can be read as a either a sign of fresh hope or the final nail in the coffin for the FromSoftware franchise’s future.
Sony released a new sizzle reel ahead of PlayStation’s 30th anniversary on December 3 that celebrates its biggest exclusives and most iconic franchise moments. “It’s about you,” the company posted on X (formerly known as Twitter). “Thank you for 30 years of play.”
The thank you to Bloodborne fans in particular was a handful of frames at the very end of the video showing the game’s Hunter in a fight with the words “It’s about persistence” flashing on the screen. Sony could have chosen any game to end the montage on—The Last of Us, Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, Astro Bot—and any vague sentiment—love, friendship, action, adventure—to leave players with. Concluding with Bloodborne and its fans’ relentless calls for more Bloodborne was certainly a choice.
Some have called using a 30th-anniversary celebration to target Bloodborne sickos “pure evil.” “Someone at PlayStation woke up and chose violence today,” wrote another. But what does it mean? Will the game finally come to PC now that the homebrew community is closer than ever to fully emulating the 2015 hit? Will the notorious 30fps action game finally get a 60fps mode on PS5? Could fans be in for a full-blown remaster with a PS5 Pro enhanced mode like Demon’s Souls received? Or maybe this is just a knowing wink at a community with a penchant for grandiose speculation and perennial disappointment.
There have been more rumors than usual flying around following a particularly intriguing coincidence. The December 3 anniversary, an easter egg for which seemed to be teasing more announcements in a recent PS5 slim trailer, also happens to be when Bloodborne servers go down for scheduled maintenance, which was first announced several weeks ago. Probably nothing, right? Right?
It’s never been exactly clear what the hold-up is, given the Dark Souls spiritual spin-off’s critical acclaim and sales success (7.5 million copies sold by last count). FromSoftware made it, but Sony owns the rights. Maybe neither party can agree on what it would take to bring the game into the future nearly a decade later. Bluepoint Games, which made the Shadow of the Colossus and Demon’s Soul remakes, felt like an obvious candidate to work on an update but is reportedly in pre-production for its own original IP.
Whatever the case may be, Bloodborne fans will never give up. Sony’s acknowledgment of that fact means we’ve just entered a brand new phase of “Bloodborne remake when” chants routinely breaking out on social media and PlayStation showcase livestream chats. Oh, look at that: Geoff Keighley’s Game Awards 2024 are only a week away.
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