While fans of FromSoftware’s works have been asking for a current-gen remaster of Bloodborne or even a sequel for quite some time now, former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden doesn’t believe that it’s likely to happen any time soon. In a recent episode of the Trophy Room podcast, Layden said that there are too many IP rights involved with Bloodborne, making a sequel quite difficult.
The IP rights for Bloodborne go hand-in-hand with the level of quality that would be expected of a sequel. “Can you do something that is not only respectful of the original, but can you recreate the phenomenon?” he asked.
“There’s a lot of involved rights associated with it,” Layden continued, noting that, along with FromSoftware itself, there is also the involvement of Sony and even Bandai Namco. “And something like that where Sony is in there, and [FromSoftware] is in there, and From’s parent company is in there, I think just getting everyone to sign off on everything is probably the biggest challenge there.”
Former PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida had spoken about the challenges of Bloodborne getting some kind of follow-up in January last year. In an interview, he noted that he didn’t have complete details on the matter. However, his own theory revolves around the fact that Bloodborne director Hidetaka Miyazaki has simply been too busy to give the title another look.
“I have only my personal theory to that situation,” explained Yoshida in the interview, which you can watch below. “I left first party so I don’t know what’s going on, but my theory is… Miyazaki-san really loved Bloodborne, you know, what he created. So, I think he is interested but he’s so successful and he’s so busy, so he… cannot do it himself, but he does not want anyone else to touch it.”
Bloodborne, originally released in 2015, was followed up with Dark Souls 3 in 2016, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice in 2019, and the critically acclaimed Elden Ring in 2022. With all of these products involving Miyazaki in some form or another, him simply being too busy could be a likely answer. It also doesn’t help that he is currently working on the Nintendo Switch 2-exclusive The Duskbloods.
Despite this, however, Yoshida has expressed interest in seeing Bloodborne making its way to PS5 or PC someday.
“This game [Bloodborne] has a lot of fans all over the world, and it still doesn’t have a PS5 version,” Yoshida said. “PlayStation’s first-party team is releasing a ton of remasters, so why don’t they release this one? There’s no PC release. I am often asked why these haven’t been released, but it’s a complete mystery. Maybe they’ll come out in the future. Maybe they won’t. Maybe they’ll make a special edition. Maybe they won’t. As a huge fan, I hope it will come out.”
In the meantime, fans of Bloodborne can look forward to the animated film adaptation, which recently got a writer and director. The project is being produced by Seán “Jacksepticeye” McLoughlin, who has spoken about the decision to go with an animated adaptation over a live-action one.
