I can’t wait for FromSoftware to wrap up its multiplayer era

According to July 17 reporting from MP1st, FromSoftware has an unannounced game in the works that will be playable “no later than next year.” FromSoftware is certainly a busy studio — in the past three years, it’s released Elden Ring, an Elden Ring expansion, an Elden Ring multiplayer spinoff, and Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon — so it wouldn’t be too surprising if it had some counter-programming in the works for 2026 next to the Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive The Duskbloods. I only hope the rumored 2026 game, or whatever FromSoftware is working on next, returns to the single-player focus of its best Soulslikes.

I’m by no means against the studio, or any studio, experimenting with what it wants to do. If anything, a multiplayer-only game in Elden Ring Nightreign feels like a natural experimental step for a studio that often includes some form of co-op in its Soulslikes. Nightreign was also directed by someone other than Hidetaka Miyazaki, Junya Ishizaki, and more directors getting to lead projects is an overall good thing for a studio.

It’s just that game development takes a long time, and if you’re not excited about your favorite studio’s next releases (as I wasn’t with Nightreign), you might be waiting a while for whatever it has next. I thought the legally-distinct-Bloodborne, The Duskbloods, was initially going to be the salve to my ails. (I’m one of those dorks who won’t shut up about the ten-year-old Bloodborne.) The idea of FromSoft developing an exclusive for a Nintendo platform was tantalizing, but that excitement was zapped when it became apparent The Duskbloods wouldn’t be the single-player adventure I wanted, but rather another multiplayer-focused title.

Further in that MP1st report is the speculation that the rumored 2026 FromSoftware game would be a remaster of 2016’s Dark Souls 3. (Poylgon has reached out to representatives for Bandai Namco, longtime publisher of FromSoftware’s games, for comment.)

I have fond memories of Dark Souls 3, my first foray into the series. It came out right when I was graduating college, and I remember hooking my PlayStation 4 up to a hotel TV to play it, as my parents were between closing on one house and waiting to move into another. I had fun with co-op, dunking my character’s head in wax alongside my old college roommate. Was it a good idea? Was it going to kill us? We were gonna find out!

That’s the type of multiplayer I enjoy in a FromSoftware Soulslike — optional and additive, and not the entire conceit of the game. I preferred playing these games Han-style back then, and still prefer a single-player experience now, with the occasional call for assistance during a tough boss fight. Dark Souls 3 nailed that, but a remastered version won’t necessarily scratch my itch for single-player FromSoft; I still have my PS4 disc of the game and could pop that in whenever I want. I’ve already explored most of what Dark Souls 3 had to offer, and now I want to dive into something fresh.

There’s nothing quite like exploring a FromSoftware labyrinthine level. They’re dense, chaotic, atmospheric, interconnected, and wholly original, allowing you to adventure at your own pace (without a burning ring of fire closing in.) Other Soulslikes have tried it, but not even my favorites like Lies of P or newcomers like Wuchang: Fallen Feathers can quite match the tremendous layouts of a FromSoftware level. There’s a reason the genre is named after FromSoftware’s games; the studio is King of the Soulslike.

After cutting its teeth on a multitude of titles and series over the years, FromSoftware found mainstream success with its dense, difficult, and moody Soulslikes. It has pushed that genre into new territory with multiplayer-focused titles, but I’m hoping the time is near that we get a new single-player FromSoft joint. Maybe FromSoftware has a third unannounced 2026 project in the works? A tarnished can dream.