Oh yes, Bloodborne… At this point, Bloodborne fans aren’t even asking for a miracle anymore. We’re asking for the bare minimum. A remaster. A PS5 patch. A performance upgrade. Anything. Because it’s honestly wild that one of PlayStation’s most beloved modern exclusives is still locked to PS4 hardware, stuck at 30fps, and left behind while Sony keeps pretending it doesn’t exist.
And what makes it sting even more is that Sony already proved it knows how to revive a Soulslike classic, with the Demon’s Souls royal treatment. A next-gen showcase for the PS5 release that screamed, “This is what the console can do.” So, the question practically writes itself: if Sony was willing to remake Demon’s Souls, why has it ignored Bloodborne for so long?
Why indeed?
Bloodborne Is Still a Cult Classic for a Reason
First off, Bloodborne isn’t just another Soulslike experience. It’s the game that took FromSoftware’s formula and turned it into something feral. Where Dark Souls taught patience, defense, and discipline, Bloodborne pushed aggression, speed, and brutality. It was at its best when you stopped playing cautiously and started playing like a hunter, always on the attack.
There’s even a mechanic built around that mindset. The Rally system lets you regain lost health by immediately striking back after taking damage, almost like the game is daring you to smack the enemy in the face before you lose that health for good. Compare that to Dark Souls, and I say this as someone who loves the series, where you’d back off, create space, and sip an Estus Flask. Both approaches are great, but they’re completely different philosophies. Bloodborne didn’t want you to retreat. It wanted you to keep swinging.
And then there’s the world. Yharnam, is still one of the greatest settings in gaming, period. That grim Victorian horror vibe, the sickly streets, the layered madness hiding behind polite society. Then the game flips the table halfway through and dives straight into cosmic horror, and suddenly you realize you never truly understood what you were fighting in the first place. It’s unforgettable in a way that few games manage to pull off.
But it isn’t just the setting that makes Bloodborne special. There are so many unforgettable locations and bosses that still live rent-free in my mind, and one of the biggest standouts will always be Ludwig, the Accursed from the Bloodborne The Old Hunters DLC.
That fight kicked my ass more times than I want to admit. But when I finally took him down and thought it was over, the game did what FromSoftware does best and pulled the rug out from under me. Ludwig gets back up and pulls out one of FromSoftware’s most infamous weapons of all time, the Moonlight Great Sword.
I lost my shit.
The Moonlight Great Sword has always been one of my favorite weapons in any FromSoftware game, and that moment is a big reason why I own several real-life replicas that I have hung in my office. The fight, the transition, the music, the insanity of it all. It’s the kind of gaming moment that sticks with you forever.
And when you compare it to the worlds in Dark Souls, even something as beloved as Dark Souls III, it becomes even more obvious why Bloodborne hits differently. The Kingdom of Lothric is a strong setting, but it exists within a more familiar fantasy framework. Castles, ruins, knights, dying kingdoms. It’s great, but it fits a mold we’ve seen across countless games.
Yharnam, on the other hand, does not. Even to this day it still feels fresh because it’s not just gothic horror or Victorian aesthetic. It’s a world that transforms into something cosmic and incomprehensible, and the deeper you go, the more everything you thought you understood starts to fall apart.
To this day, almost nobody has truly replicated it. The closest we’ve gotten is Lies of P, a game people immediately compared to Bloodborne the moment they saw the tone and architecture. Even then, it’s still its own thing, and it doesn’t capture the same layered madness that made Yharnam so iconic.
Speaking of which, would you believe that Bloodborne is the only PlayStation game that I have a platinum in? Me, of all people, since I couldn’t care less about achievements or trophies. Maybe it was due to PlayStation at the time, giving out a limited Bloodborne background. Either way, I did it.
It’s Still Selling, Even Without Sony Lifting A Finger
Sony hasn’t released a recent official update on Bloodborne’s lifetime sales, but internal PlayStation sales data that surfaced publicly in 2023 listed the game at 7.46 million copies sold as of February 2022. Since that figure is now several years old, the game’s current sales total is unknown. Given Bloodborne’s continued popularity and steady visibility in the broader Souls community, it is reasonable to assume the title has continued to sell beyond that point, but any estimates above the February 2022 figure remain speculative without an official update from Sony.
That’s the key detail. Even without a patch, a remaster, or a PC release, Bloodborne keeps moving copies. It stays relevant. It trends constantly. It gets recommended to every new Souls fan who plays Elden Ring and wants to see what else FromSoftware has done.
And the fact that it’s a PS4 game only helps. You can still buy it digitally, grab a physical copy easily, and play it on both PS4 and PS5 thanks to backward compatibility. Demon’s Souls never had that advantage. The original was locked to the PS3 and isn’t available on the modern PlayStation Store the way Bloodborne is. Sure, the PS5 remake exists, but that’s PS5-only, meaning PS4 owners are left out entirely. Look, there’s a reason why there’s such a big push to get Bloodborne running on the PC, and we’re at the point where if you have the hardware then you can run the game upscaled and at 4K. I’ve seen it, and my god, it’s the stuff of legends.
So, add accessibility to the list of why Bloodborne continues to sell while Demon’s Souls needed a remake to stay in the conversation.
Why Sony Still Won’t Touch It
Let’s get this out of the way. Sony owns Bloodborne. Sony published it. Sony has the power to move on this if it wants to. So why is nothing happening?
Personally, I believe it’s because Bloodborne is still too successful for PlayStation.
On top of that, a remake or remaster would need to be perfect.. Not “pretty good.” Perfect. The fanbase isn’t casual about this game, and Sony knows that. If the tone changes, the lighting changes, or the combat feel shifts even slightly, people will tear it apart. And unlike Demon’s Souls, where the remake mostly needed to look incredible, Bloodborne needs to feel right.
Then there’s the technical reality. People love saying “just patch it to 60fps,” but some games have timing, animations, and systems tied to frame pacing. If that’s true here, it’s not as simple as flipping a switch. A careless patch can break the experience.
And finally, there’s the FromSoftware factor. Yes, Sony owns the IP. But Bloodborne’s identity is tied to FromSoftware’s design sensibilities, and Sony likely doesn’t want to risk a version of Bloodborne that feels like a corporate imitation. Not when FromSoftware is one of the most valuable developers in the industry.
The Real Truth: Sony Is Sitting on a Guaranteed Win
And that’s what makes this so frustrating. A Bloodborne remaster isn’t a risk. It’s a guaranteed win. A PS5 performance upgrade alone would dominate headlines. A remaster would print money. A PC release would cause the gaming community to implode and then explode. And a remake could easily be one of PlayStation’s biggest releases in years if it’s done right.
Sony already proved it can revive a Souls classic with Demon’s Souls. Which makes it impossible not to ask the obvious question. So, if Demon’s Souls was worth a remake, why is Bloodborne still waiting? Well, outside of the reasons I’ve provided, I’m sure that Sony just wants to make us all suffer.
Thanks for reading!
