Be safe out there: long-suffering Bloodborne fans are in hysterics over a new PlayStation ad
It's time to log off for the week because Sony has referenced Bloodborne in a new trailer celebrating PlayStation's 30th year anniversary. The trailer—a typically grandiose Sony affair—references many other PlayStation games too, ranging from first-party stuff like The Last of Us and God of War, through to third-party games like Batman and Resident Evil.
Each featured game is accompanied by text encapsulating one of its themes: Metal Gear Solid 3 is "about honor", for example, and The Last of Us is "about love". God of War is "about family", while Spider-Man is "about sacrifice". And so what: it's just a trailer celebrating a platform's 30th anniversary, and won't be very interesting to anyone except people who love PlayStation and advertising.
But then Sony lobs a bomb, bringing the trailer to a close with footage of Bloodborne and the text "it's about persistence".
Here's the trailer:
It probably goes without saying, but just in case: Bloodborne is arguably From Software's most beloved RPG and it's been stuck on the PS4 since 2015. It hasn't received any meaningful updates for either the PS4 Pro or PS5, meaning its distracting performance issues endure. Fans have evolved from wanting a simple title update unlocking the game's frame rate (just like Dark Souls 3 had) to wanting a full-blown remake.
That's not to mention the game's no-show on PC, which would make a lot of business sense for Sony, who owns the IP. Whether you love Bloodborne or not, you can probably understand why people get so angry when, for example, a reissue for Horizon Zero Dawn is announced, while Bloodborne languishes.
So an acknowledgement of Bloodborne's existence by Sony is a big deal among Bloodborne devotees, especially when the concept of "persistence" is invoked. Sure, the game itself may require "persistence", but Bloodborne's fanbase has been nothing but persistent in its quest to get Sony to either fix or reissue the game.
That's not all: Bloodborne—yes, the 2015 PS4 game—will undergo maintenance on December 3, temporarily bringing it offline. December 3 is also the exact date of the PlayStation's release 30 years ago. As someone in this reddit thread rightfully points out, "this happens at around the same time every damn year". But that's not much fun, is it?
The trailer is probably better proof that something is afoot, but I'm sceptical. I have to be; I need to keep myself safe. But it's hard not to take these two not-very-promising hints to mean something could happen. Whether that means a PC release, or just a PS5 polish-up, I'm not sure, but lacking the former, at least Bloodborne emulation is making leaps and bounds at the moment.