FromSoftware Halts The Duskbloods Network Test After Two Hours of Login Issues

This morning, FromSoftware kicked off its first closed Network Test for The Duskbloods, an intriguing vampire-themed PvPvE title set to launch on Nintendo Switch 2 later this year. The test was scheduled to start bright and early for those of us in the U.S., with my alarm going off at 5 a.m. I brewed some coffee, settled onto the couch with my cats and partner, and jumped into a Discord call with our usual Elden Ring Nightreign trio, excited to dive into the game.

An hour later, we found ourselves playing Nightreign instead. It seems the network test was a success in its own way, as it effectively tested the network—only to reveal that the online servers were down.

Thousands of players were left trying to log into the network test server, only to be met with a “Failed to log in to The Duskbloods game server. Select ‘OK’ to attempt to log in again” error. Clicking “OK” just led to a loading screen that eventually returned the same error message. After nearly two hours of this, FromSoftware appeared to throw in the towel, posting an update on their social media:

“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to those who were waiting for the first The Duskbloods network test due to game server issues. We regret to inform you that today’s session is now closed. We will continue to work on improving the servers and will announce…”

This message raised some eyebrows, especially since another network test window was already scheduled for later that night, along with more sessions over the weekend. Does this mean tonight’s test is off too? Will they add more sessions? It’s hard to say, as this isn’t an early access situation we all paid for. The goal was to stress-test the online play with a large number of players, and that objective was certainly met, albeit in a roundabout way.

I finally managed to get into the Duskbloods Network Test, and it’s absolutely amazing.

Personally, I’m hoping to squeeze in some Duskbloods gameplay later this weekend. The game is set to release this year, so even if today’s test is scrapped, it’s not the end of the world. I really hope this is just a minor hiccup on FromSoftware’s or Nintendo’s part and not a sign of bigger online issues ahead. FromSoftware hasn’t ventured into online gaming like this before with The Duskbloods, and while Elden Ring Nightreign eventually stabilized, it had its share of server troubles too. Nintendo has delivered solid online experiences with the Splatoon series, but they’ve also stumbled with other titles, so it’s anyone’s guess how this will unfold.

In their defense, the game isn’t called Dawnbloods.

As for me, my trio made significant progress on the final DLC boss run of Nightreign, further than we’ve ever gotten before. Who knew the secret to Nightreign was waking up at 5 a.m.? Thanks for the network test, FromSoftware. I had a blast playing one of your games today.