The Duskbloods on Nintendo Switch 2: While FromSoftware Stays Silent, Beta Files Reveal All 13 Playable Bloodsworn
Since wrapping up its closed network test back in August, FromSoftware has maintained complete radio silence around The Duskbloods. Even so, the upcoming multiplayer PvPvE action game directed by studio president Hidetaka Miyazaki exclusively for the Nintendo Switch 2 has just surrendered a trove of internal secrets. Newly extracted text files from the beta client confirm that the full launch roster features 13 playable Bloodsworn, while exposing their signature relics, bloodline perks, and the four-phase structure of its nocturnal matches.
From Miyazaki's "More Than a Dozen" Tease to 13 Bloodsworn in ProfileMat
When Hidetaka Miyazaki first introduced the project during Nintendo's Creator's Voice interview series, he noted that players would choose from "more than a dozen" distinct characters blessed with superhuman vampiric abilities, summoned to the Twilight of Humanity to compete for First Blood. Following the first Nintendo Switch 2 game file dumps, dataminer ividyon extracted and organized the internal text tables from the Closed Network Test build, which were subsequently analyzed by the community on the r/TheDuskbloods subreddit.
Although the localization team scrubbed several English text columns from the test build prior to August's sessions, the original Japanese strings remained intact inside the internal ProfileMat file. That table lists exactly 13 character profile relics and weapons, each tied to one of the 13 playable Bloodsworn in the roster:
- Nike Wheel Spear (Internal ID 2100000): The sole weapon entry in the profile table, specifically tagged with an unlock state in the Japanese text strings.
- The Predecessor's Journal (ID 3000000)
- The Blood Chief's Pendant (ID 3000010)
- Ancestral Shroud (ID 3000020)
- Dancing Maiden's Cape (ID 3000030)
- Blood-Sucking Chalice (ID 3000040)
- Golden Scarab (ID 3000050)
- Warrior's Amulet (ID 3000060)
- Cursed Cashmere (ID 3000070)
- Crystal Skull (ID 3000080)
- Belfast Sapphire (ID 3000090)
- Knight's Grand Cross (ID 3000100)
- Tyrant's Ring (ID 3000110)
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The Nike Wheel Spear and Its Tie to the Beta's Mini-Boss
The very first entry in the table immediately caught the eye of players who participated in August's network test. As Reddit user NeedleKnightLenny pointed out on the community board, the Nike Wheel Spear is the exact weapon wielded by one of the field mini-bosses encountered during the closed beta.
Because this entry sits in its own numbering bracket (2100000 rather than the 3000000 sequence used for the twelve personal heirlooms) and carries an explicit unlock tag, it points to a deeper gameplay and lore connection. Either the thirteenth Bloodsworn shares direct bloodline history with that mini-boss, or players will unlock that character by defeating the boss and claiming the wheel spear during a dedicated mission.
Bloodline Clans, Destiny Sigils, and Four-Phase Dusk Battles
Beyond the character count, the extracted SinglePlayMission, PersonMat, and Role Text Name tables shed light on how FromSoftware blends solo remembrance missions with its multiplayer PvPvE loop. In the opening tutorial mission, Blood-scented Night, newcomers are drawn into the dusk and guided by an NPC named Jan of the Bloodhands.
Full matches, referred to internally as Dusk Battles, unfold across four distinct phases set in gothic locales including Lowanro City, the Clock Tower, Euthania Cathedral, Leethi Greatbridge, and the Forest of Heresy. Throughout the early stages, players must accumulate Virtue. Before the fourth and final showdown, called Moon Blood Bestowal, the Grail performs a ruthless culling that eliminates any Bloodsworn who failed to gather enough Virtue.
The files also detail the asymmetric Sigil system etched into each warrior's bloodline. In any given match, these sigils dynamically assign relational roles between combatants, marking another player in the lobby as your Sworn Enemy, a Once-bonded comrade, a Heretic hunted by an Inquisitor, or even a Long-lost Love. Meanwhile, the PersonMat table reveals a lineage mechanic spanning factions such as the Traditional, Zolken, and Dasyu clans, where ancestral parentage or marriage ties, such as Belfast, Heir to the Blue Blood Line, grant +150 stat boosts to clan skills like Nebula Disk and Torpedo Charge.
Will The Duskbloods Hold Its 2026 Release Window?
While the studio's legacy continues to expand across media with the big-budget Elden Ring movie adaptation at A24 and Bandai Namco, the lack of fresh news on The Duskbloods as late October winds down raises legitimate scheduling questions. Officially, the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive is still slated for a 2026 release, but with November and December fast approaching, a slip into early 2027 looks increasingly plausible to give Hidetaka Miyazaki's team breathing room.
My Perspective
Even when Hidetaka Miyazaki builds a multiplayer arena game for Nintendo Switch 2, he refuses to play by standard rulebooks, and thank goodness for that. Secretly tagging a random rival in your lobby as a "Fated Lover" or "Sworn Nemesis" mid-match through Destiny Seals is a brilliant recipe for chaotic backstabbing across Lowanro City.
Tying the thirteenth playable character directly to a boss's wheel-lance drop also proves that FromSoftware cares way more about rewarding curiosity in the field than handing out a sterile character select screen.
Based on the outskirts of New York City, Chaya 'Chayane' spent five years studying software engineering in Montreal before returning to her home state. A Full-Stack developer and Deep Learning AI architecture researcher, she explores neural networks and algorithmic optimization while engineering data pipelines for Retrocharting and Gamescharting alongside Grimtag. A gamer for over 20 years and an avid collector of Nintendo history and The Legend of Zelda, she explored World of Warcraft's Azeroth before bringing her deep technical background to video game analysis.
