2015’s Bloodborne continues to be one of the most beloved FromSoftware titles, thanks to its cosmic horror twist on the Soulslike genre. But it’s never gotten a sequel, remaster, or remake, despite the fact that fans have been clamoring for anything Bloodborne related for years at this point. According to Dark Souls, Elden Ring, and Bloodborne director Hidetaka Miyazaki, it isn’t due to a lack of interest on the part of FromSoftware but an issue of IP ownership.
In a recent interview with IGN surrounding Elden Ring’s upcoming Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, Miyazaki opened up about why the developer has stayed silent on the project for so long. “Unfortunately, and I’ve said this in other interviews, it’s not in my place to talk about Bloodborne specifically. We simply don’t own the IP at FromSoftware.” So who does own the Bloodborne IP? That would be Sony. On top of being the publisher for the title, Sony’s (now defunct) first-party developer Japan Studio had a major role in the development of Bloodborne. According to an IGN documentary on the development of the game, Japan Studio brought the idea of Bloodborne to FromSoftware and Miyazaki in hopes of collaborating.
This is similar to how the Souls genre was born, as Japan Studio and FromSoftware collaborated on 2009’s Demon’s Souls. Sony’s ownership of the Demon’s Soul’s IP then prevented FromSoftware from making a sequel which led to Miyazaki and FromSoftware creating the spiritual successor Dark Souls. Bloodborne is similarly owned by Sony, meaning that any decisions on a sequel, remaster, or remake would be up to Sony—whether FromSoftware wanted it or not. Miyazaki did share with IGN that he still thinks of Bloodborne fondly even if he can’t talk about it’s future. “For me personally, it was a great project, and I have a lot of great memories for that game, but we’re not at liberty to speak to it,” he said. He also shared with Eurogamer that he is ““happy to see that there are still so many people passionate about it.” Sony has yet to share any news on the future of Bloodborne, but if the 2020 remake of Demon’s Souls from Bluepoint Games is any indication, there is always a chance it could make an unexpected comeback.
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