Bloodborne
Bloodborne[b] is a 2015 action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. Bloodborne follows the player's character, a Hunter, through the decrepit Gothic, Victorian-era–inspired city of Yharnam, whose inhabitants are afflicted with a blood-borne disease which transforms the residents, called Yharnamites, into horrific beasts. Attempting to find the source of the plague, the player's character unravels the city's mysteries while fighting beasts and cosmic beings.
This article is about the video game. For the type of disease, see blood-borne disease.Bloodborne
- Masaaki Yamagiwa
- Teruyuki Toriyama
Kazuhiro Hamatani
Jun Ito
- Ryan Amon
- Tsukasa Saitoh
- Yuka Kitamura
- Nobuyoshi Suzuki
- Cris Velasco
- Michael Wandmacher
Bloodborne is played from a third-person perspective. Players control a customizable protagonist, and the gameplay is focused on strategic weapons-based combat and exploration. Players battle varied enemies while using items such as trick weapons and firearms, exploring different locations, interacting with non-player characters, and unraveling the city's mysteries. Bloodborne began development in 2012 under the working title of Project Beast. Bearing many similarities to FromSoftware's Dark Souls series, Bloodborne was inspired by the literary works of authors H. P. Lovecraft and Bram Stoker and the architectural design of real-world locations in countries such as Romania and Czech Republic.
Bloodborne has been cited as among the greatest video games ever made, with praise directed at its gameplay, atmosphere, sound design, Lovecraftian themes, and interconnected world design. Some criticism was directed at its technical performance at launch, which was improved with post-release updates. The downloadable content The Old Hunters was released in November 2015. The game had sold 7.46 million copies by February 2022. Some related media and adaptations have also been released, including a card game, board game and comic book series.
Release[edit]
Bloodborne was announced at E3 2014, where a trailer was shown. In January 2015, Bloodborne became Game Informer's readers' most anticipated game of 2015.[58][59] The game was originally planned to be released on February 6, 2015, but was delayed to March 24, 2015, in North America, March 25, 2015, in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, March 26, 2015, in Japan, and March 27, 2015, in the United Kingdom and Ireland.[60][61] A downloadable content expansion, The Old Hunters, was released on November 24, 2015. It takes place within a world where hunters of the past are trapped, and features new weapons, outfits, and items.[62][63]
A limited collector's edition was launched with the game. It includes a SteelBook case, a hard cover art book, and a digital copy of the game's soundtrack.[64] The soundtrack was released separately on April 21, 2015.[52][53] The European exclusive Nightmare Edition included physical items such as a quill and ink set, as well as all the items in the collector's edition. An Asian edition includes a letter opener modeled off of the in-game weapon, the Kirkhammer. A PlayStation 4 bundle is also available in Asian regions.[65] A song to promote Bloodborne was recorded by the Hit House featuring Ruby Friedman for a trailer and TV spot of the game,[66] titled "Hunt You Down", written by Scott Miller and William Hunt, and recorded by Wyn Davis[67] in Los Angeles and at Word of Mouth Recording Studios in New Orleans.[68]
Sony Denmark teamed up with Danish organization GivBlod in order to encourage blood donations through a program where donators who donated on March 23, 2015, would receive a chance to win Bloodborne as a gift.[69][70] An officially licensed card game, based on the game's Chalice Dungeons, was published by CoolMiniOrNot and released in November 2016.[71][72] In February 2018, a tie-in comic book series written by Ales Kot and published by Titan Comics was released.[73] It ran for four volumes, with each volume being a standalone story. A fifth volume launched in July 2022, written by Cullen Bunn.[74]