How a Bloodborne Remaster Became This Generation’s Half-Life 3
As we endure another year without a Bloodborne remaster, it may be time to accept that the fabled project is this generation's Half-Life 3.
It’s another slow summer for gaming news (aside from the usual industry horrors, of course), which means that talk of a Bloodborne remaster or remake is heating up. That hypothetical game has been trending on Twitter recently, as it will often do for no apparent reason. In this case, there have been vague recent rumors of a pending announcement spurred on by so-called insiders who constantly post to social media in the hopes of eventually being right. Such reports are, as always, entirely without merit.
This cycle of vague rumors, renewed hope, and eventual disappointment has defined the fabled Bloodborne remaster/remake in the nearly 10 years since Bloodborne was released for the PlayStation 4. There is a very good chance that cycle will repeat for another 10 years. That’s because Bloodborne‘s eternally rumored revival is becoming this generation’s Half-Life 3.
Granted, that’s not a one-to-one comparison. Much of the hype surrounding Half-Life 3 was based on Half-Life 2: Episode 2‘s cliffhanger ending. Bloodborne was a standalone release that lacked such an obvious promise. Half-Life is the property of its developer, Valve. Bloodborne was a joint venture between developer FromSoftware and publisher PlayStation Studios. Valve notoriously stopped developing entries in their biggest franchises in favor of focusing on Steam’s growth. FromSoftware has developed many notable games since Bloodborne and has made it clear that they are often looking ahead at new projects. For that matter, Half-Life 3 was going to be a full sequel whereas Bloodborne fans call for a remake but would gladly settle for a re-release or PC port.
What unites the two titles (beyond the otherworldly desire for their existence) is the once seemingly indisputable conclusion that they will happen eventually. For Half-Life 3, that inevitability was partially based on that aforementioned cliffhanger and how unimaginable it would be for Valve to essentially turn their back on the series that made them industry legends.
For Bloodborne, the apparent ease of those proposed revivals has kept them in the conversation for so long. Bloodborne is not just one of the most acclaimed games of its era; it’s the arguable crown jewel in the collection of a studio widely considered to be one of the best developers in the world. However, the game remains largely limited to the PS4 at a time when remasters, remakes, and even PC ports of major titles have become essential guarantees. Why wouldn’t someone give Bloodborne anything but the PS4 version of the game we are currently limited to?
That largely unanswered question hants Bloodborne fans in ways even that gothic horror masterpiece never quite could. Mind you, there have been some updates along the way. FromSoftware’s Hidetaka Miyazaki says the studio simply doesn’t own the Bloodborne IP, so he’s “not at liberty to speak to it.” He seems all for the prospect of a remaster, but the situation is beyond his control. Based on that statement, it sounds like FromSoftware simply doesn’t have much say in the matter, and Sony likely isn’t able to coordinate with FromSoftware given their busy schedule and desire to keep moving forward.
Yet, that explanation doesn’t make any sense. Not on its own anyway. After all, Sony released a remake of FromSoftware’s Demon’s Souls that was developed by an outside studio (Bluepoint Games). Why not do something similar again? For that matter, why even bother with a remake? After all this time, why has Sony simply not released a remaster of Bloodborne for PS5 or ported it to PC? Mind you, this is a company that remastered The Last of Us Part 2 just four years after its debut. They’re some of the most notorious double and triple dippers in the industry, but they haven’t even hinted at the simplest update to Bloodborne in nearly a decade.
If you aren’t opposed to wearing tin foil, you may be interested in the theory that the problem is Bloodborne itself. Not that the game didn’t sell well, mind you (it reportedly sold over 7 million PS4 copies) but rather that its code is an absolute mess to work with. That rumor has been widely disputed, but it’s one that people keep returning to. If that is the case, then it’s possible that FromSoftware is the only studio that could get the game properly running on PC or modern consoles and that they haven’t been able to coordinate with Sony to find the opportunity to do so. There is also a very real chance they’d prefer to have such a game not be exclusive to Sony platforms as Sony may wish to be the case.
Try to be surprised, but it seems the real enemies in this instance may be time and money. Interestingly, that was also the case for Half-Life 3. After years of speculation, we eventually learned that game would likely never be released due to the resources that would need to go into it vs. the pay-off Valve could get by devoting those resources elsewhere. At some point, Valve had to ask themselves what it would take to make a version of Half-Life 3 that came close to living up to the hype and justifying their investment. By all accounts, the answer they came up with went on to disappoint a generation.
Perhaps we’re witnessing something similar with Bloodborne. At this point, maybe the parties involved are content with letting the fire burn out and pursuing other victories. Yes, we’re only talking about a remaster or port, but in the modern gaming industry, expectations and investments for such projects are higher than ever. Just look at what happened to the GTA Trilogy remasters. Those can’t miss, seemingly simple remasters missed in a big way when it turns out they weren’t so simple. Nothing in modern gaming is.
Yet, it still seems worthwhile to hold on to hope for a modern Bloodborne release. After all this time, doesn’t it just feel like such a game will eventually somehow be released? With each passing year, though, those who hold onto hope for that game and allow themselves to turn the faintest whisper of its existence into gospel are made to feel like fools. The subject of Bloodborne will inevitably trend again during the next PlayStation showcase or simply apropos of nothing. Take it from a former Half-Life 3 believer, though. Such expectations can quickly become a joke before you realize that you weren’t in on it.
Written by
Matthew Byrd is Games Editor at Den of Geek and an entertainment enthusiast living in Brooklyn. When he's not exploring the culture of video games, he's…