The Duskbloods Gameplay Leaks Ahead of Closed Beta

A snippet of The Duskbloods gameplay reached social media a day before FromSoftware opened its closed test on Switch 2, and it did not come from Nintendo. 4Gamer posted the footage by accident, someone reuploaded it to Bilibili, and the original went offline soon after. Eurogamer, which covered the clip, told readers to stay off social media until the test goes live.

The video covers the end of a match rather than the start. Three top-performing players fight on a rooftop under a red moon, and the pace runs quicker than most FromSoftware combat. They dash, double jump, and drop into heavy aerial attacks. During the fight they call in computer-controlled allies, including wolves and squat figures riding a small wooden cart.

One player triggers a temporary transformation and turns into a large velociraptor, then dashes forward into a grab attack. It behaves like the dragon and bear transformations in Elden Ring and the Souls games: a short window of extra damage, not a permanent form. Once the winner is settled, a cinematic shows the player raising a grail toward the moon.

The leak spoils the one part of a match the test was built to deliver in play: its ending. Anyone joining on Friday already knows what the last seconds look like, down to the grail.

I do not support anyone who puts a build online ahead of the studio, and I hope this is the last Duskbloods leak before the game ships. FromSoftware had one day left before players could see the same fight for themselves.

The beta test runs from 21 to 24 August, according to the game's official site, which corrected an earlier message that had listed the 23rd as the final day. Entry needs a Switch 2 and an active Switch Online membership, which cuts out anyone who bought the console and skipped the subscription. Registration opened on 22 July and closed six days later, and selected players heard back on 7 August. The servers only run inside five fixed slots, and two of them start at 3am BST, so anyone who misses a window misses the session. The confirmed test windows stretch across mornings and small hours because the point of the exercise is to load the servers at once.

The hardware is the real gate here, more than the application draw. A Switch 2 and a paid membership rule out most of the curious before they reach the registration form, an odd shape for an online game that needs a crowd to stress its servers.

Matches support up to eight players, in line with the PvPvE format FromSoftware confirmed in 2025. The studio said in advance that bugs are likely and that balance is unfinished. I think a leaked fragment sets expectations the studio never agreed to set, and a rough build judged out of context is the worst version of this game anyone could meet first.

The Duskbloods was revealed at the Switch 2 Direct in April 2025 and has stayed exclusive to the console. Players take the role of Bloodsworn, vampiric fighters chasing the First Blood during an event the studio calls the Twilight of Humanity. There is no single era or place: Gothic and Victorian maps sit next to later settings, including one glimpsed in the trailer with a train running through it. June's Nintendo Direct promised the test for summer without naming a date, and that appearance was the game's first in 14 months.

Beyond melee combat, most of what the finished game will hold has not been shown. FromSoftware has not locked down modes or final player counts, and the reveal trailer's mix of jetpacks, steampunk hardware and a clock tower raised more questions than the studio has answered since.

A release date is still missing. Kadokawa listed the game among its 2026 releases for Switch 2 in a financial report, alongside Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition, and Nintendo has repeated that the schedule holds. Neither company has named a month, and a slip into 2027 is possible. I know the clip will keep circulating, and calling a leak free marketing does not make it the studio's decision. Nintendo and FromSoftware have said nothing about the footage.

Read also: a rumor circulating on Reddit ties the recent GTA 6 leaks to a cyberattack on a Rockstar India employee, with the stolen development build allegedly resold to the hacker Cyberleek for around $50 million. None of it is confirmed, and Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look still premieres on Netflix on 27 August, ahead of the game's 19 November release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.