Something that many PlayStation and soulsborne fans have been hoping to see for a very long time now is some sort of remaster or remake for Bloodborne. It’s also something that just has not materialized despite keen fan interest and money-making potential. Between Sony’s continued lack of acknowledgement of fan interest and its recent closure of Bluepoint Studios, many assumed it was Sony alone that was preventing it from happening, but it seems that’s not exactly the case.

According to recent information reported by Eurogamer.net, it was FromSoftware itself, not Sony, that rejected a Bloodborne remake pitch from the now defunct Bluepoint Studios. It doesn’t change anything, I suppose, but that might go a long way towards explaining what Sony hasn’t even been willing to offer a statement to fans who’ve been asking for the game to be revisited over the past several years.

As for why FromSoftware wouldn’t want a full-on remake or remaster of Bloodborne, we can only speculate. Perhaps it didn’t like aspects of how the 2020 remake of Demon’s Souls turned out. While it is functionally the same game, there’s no denying that it’s drastically different in terms of art style. Perhaps FromSoftware didn’t want to see a remake that’s too much of a departure from Bloodborne’s very distinctive art direction?

Alternatively, it could be that the studio just wants to handle it itself should the stars align and give them enough flexibility to take on the project. Whatever the reason, it really is a shame that they couldn’t arrive at an agreement before Bluepoint got shuttered. Even so, I’m still wondering how badly Bloodborne even needs a remake/remaster. Some upscaling would be nice certainly, as would a boost to 60fps, but I’d say that the game is fine otherwise. Even if it were to just get ported to PC as is, the modding community would be able to take care of it.

PlayStation has received some heat in recent years for being too liberal with remakes, with games like The Last of Us Part II held up as the prime example of the practice. I myself have been critical of the company for it, but my issue isn’t so much that there have been so many, but rather that it’s often been the same game(s) getting re-released over and over while others get ignored. What it really comes down to, I think, is the fact that it’s very difficult to keep games available.

It takes work, resources and money to bring games forward from generation to generation, which is why I think physical media is so important. It keeps games available even after their home systems have long since become obsolete. Obviously it doesn’t solve everything, but it does relieve the pressure to keep bringing games forward through each console generation. Of course, PC ports help fix this too, so here’s hoping we see more of them in the future.

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What do you think about this? Do games need regular remakes to keep them relevant, or would simple ports be enough?

Image is the Bloodborne cover art