Lance McDonald, the creator of the highly popular Bloodborne 60fps patch, has reported receiving a DMCA takedown notice from Sony Interactive Entertainment. The notice demanded the removal of all online links to the patch, which McDonald has complied with. He highlighted the irony of this action, referencing a past meeting with former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida where he jokingly revealed his creation of the mod, prompting laughter from Yoshida.
Bloodborne, a critically acclaimed FromSoftware title, remains a significant point of contention among fans. Despite its popularity, Sony has yet to release an official next-gen patch, remaster, or sequel, leaving a significant gap for community-driven projects like McDonald's. Recently, advancements in PS4 emulation, specifically using ShadPS4, have enabled near-remaster quality gameplay at 60fps on PC, as highlighted by Digital Foundry. Whether this recent emulation breakthrough influenced Sony's DMCA action remains unclear; IGN has reached out to Sony for comment.
Adding to the intrigue, Shuhei Yoshida recently offered his perspective on Bloodborne's continued absence from next-gen platforms in an interview with Kinda Funny Games. He theorized that Hidetaka Miyazaki, the game's creator, holds a deep personal attachment to Bloodborne and is reluctant to allow others to work on a remaster or update, even though he himself lacks the time to do so. Yoshida emphasized that this was merely his personal theory and not an official statement.
Despite Miyazaki's frequent deflection of Bloodborne questions in interviews, citing FromSoftware's lack of IP ownership, he did acknowledge in February 2023 that a release on modern hardware would be beneficial for the game. Bloodborne's future remains uncertain, almost a decade after its initial release, leaving fans eagerly anticipating any news regarding potential updates or sequels.
