The Duskbloods Gameplay Leaks Ahead of Switch 2 Network Test

Gameplay footage from The Duskbloods, FromSoftware's upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, leaked online just one day before the game's closed network test goes live on 21 August.

The footage was accidentally published by Japanese gaming outlet 4Gamer before being pulled, but not before it was uploaded to Bilibili, the Chinese video-sharing platform. Copies circulated widely enough that the leak outpaced any takedown. Eurogamer reported the details on 20 August.

The Duskbloods is a multiplayer action game — a PvPvE format, meaning players fight each other and computer-controlled enemies in the same match — in which up to eight players battle as characters called "Bloodsworn" on Nintendo's new console. Nintendo's store page describes it as a Switch 2 exclusive.

What the leaked video showed was the climactic finale of a match: the three top-performing players squaring off in a final brawl to decide the winner. The footage revealed several gameplay mechanics that had not been publicly shown before.

Players can double jump and chain together large aerial attacks. They can also summon computer-controlled allies, including wolves and a rotund figure riding in a wooden cart. One of the more striking abilities mirrors transformation skills seen in FromSoftware's Elden Ring and the Souls series — temporary changes that turn the player into a powerful creature. In The Duskbloods, that creature is a large velociraptor capable of dashing into a powerful grab attack.

After a match's victor is decided, a cinematic plays showing the winning player lifting a grail toward a moonlit sky.

The leak caps a busy few days for The Duskbloods. On 18 August, a separate leak reportedly revealed all 14 character classes in the game ahead of the network test, according to a report from Vice. Nintendo officially calls the upcoming session the "Duskbloods Network Test" and describes it as a global test, with an official page explaining how players can apply to join.

For FromSoftware, a studio best known for single-player epics like Elden Ring and the Dark Souls series, The Duskbloods represents a step into competitive multiplayer on a Nintendo platform. The leaks, accidental as they were, have given the first unfiltered look at how that formula plays in practice — wolves, raptors, flying attacks and all.

The network test begins 21 August. How much of what the leaks revealed matches the version players will get their hands on remains an open question — but the wait for an official answer is now measured in hours, not months.