According to July 17 reporting from MP1st, FromSoftware has an unannounced game in the works that will be playable “no later than next year.” FromSoftware is certainly a busy studio — in the past three years, it’s released Elden Ring, an Elden Ring expansion, an Elden Ring multiplayer spinoff, and Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon — so it wouldn’t be too surprising if it had some counter-programming in the works for 2026 next to the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive The Duskbloods. I only hope the rumored 2026 game, or whatever FromSoftware is working on next, returns to the single-player focus of its best Soulslikes.
I’m by no means against the studio, or any studio, experimenting with what it wants to do. If anything, a multiplayer-only game in Elden Ring Nightreign feels like a natural experimental step for a studio that often includes some form of co-op in its Soulslikes. Nightreign was also directed by someone other than Hidetaka Miyazaki, Junya Ishizaki, and more directors getting to lead projects is an overall good thing for a studio.
It’s just that game development takes a long time, and if you’re not excited about your favorite studio’s next releases (as I wasn’t with Nightreign), you might be waiting a while for whatever it has next. I thought the legally-distinct-Bloodborne, The Duskbloods, was initially going to be the salve to my ails. (I’m one of those dorks who won’t shut up about the ten-year-old Bloodborne.) The idea of FromSoft developing an exclusive for a Nintendo platform was tantalizing, but that excitement was zapped when it became apparent The Duskbloods wouldn’t be the single-player adventure I wanted, but rather another multiplayer-focused title.
Further in that MP1st report is the speculation that the rumored 2026 FromSoftware game would be a remaster of 2016’s Dark Souls 3. (Poylgon has reached out to representatives for Bandai Namco, longtime publisher of FromSoftware’s games, for comment.)
I have fond memories of Dark Souls 3, my first foray into the series. It came out right when I was graduating college, and I remember hooking my PlayStation 4 up to a hotel TV to play it, as my parents were between closing on one house and waiting to move into another. I had fun with co-op, dunking my character’s head in wax alongside my old college roommate. Was it a good idea? Was it going to kill us? We were gonna find out!
That’s the type of multiplayer I enjoy in a FromSoftware Soulslike — optional and additive, and not the entire conceit of the game. I preferred playing these games Han-style back then, and still prefer a single-player experience now, with the occasional call for assistance during a tough boss fight. Dark Souls 3 nailed that, but a remastered version won’t necessarily scratch my itch for single-player FromSoft; I still have my PS4 disc of the game and could pop that in whenever I want. I’ve already explored most of what Dark Souls 3 had to offer, and now I want to dive into something fresh.
There’s nothing quite like exploring a FromSoftware labyrinthine level. They’re dense, chaotic, atmospheric, interconnected, and wholly original, allowing you to adventure at your own pace (without a burning ring of fire closing in.) Other Soulslikes have tried it, but not even my favorites like Lies of P or newcomers like Wuchang: Fallen Feathers can quite match the tremendous layouts of a FromSoftware level. There’s a reason the genre is named after FromSoftware’s games; the studio is King of the Soulslike.
After cutting its teeth on a multitude of titles and series over the years, FromSoftware found mainstream success with its dense, difficult, and moody Soulslikes. It has pushed that genre into new territory with multiplayer-focused titles, but I’m hoping the time is near that we get a new single-player FromSoft joint. Maybe FromSoftware has a third unannounced 2026 project in the works? A tarnished can dream.
The post I can’t wait for FromSoftware to wrap up its multiplayer era appeared first on Polygon.
