The Demon’s Souls remake was the reason to buy a PS5 in 2020 or 2021. Now well over a year since release, we’re still wondering: will it ever come to PC? After what seemed like a PC announcement during a State of Play event, Sony clarified that no, Demon’s Souls wasn’t coming to PC, at least not then. But since that time Sony has released or announced a number of PC ports, including Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War and Uncharted. Could Demon’s Souls finally be following soon, at an event like Summer Game Fest or State of Play?
Here’s everything we know about the Demon’s Souls remake while we wait to find out if we’ll be graced with a PC port.
The Nvidia leak makes Demon’s Souls PC seem likely
In September 2021, a list of games in Nvidia’s GeForce Now database (opens in new tab) leaked, seemingly revealing a pile of yet-to-be-announced games, including many from Sony. Nvidia claimed the games on the list were purely speculative, but since September at least 10 games from the list have been revealed. It’s possible some others will be canceled before ever being made public, of course, but the list is definitely legit. And the big one from Sony’s section is Demon’s Souls.
There are some others, including Returnal, Ghosts of Tsushima, Ratchet & Clank, and Horizon Forbidden West. All seem likely to land on PC at some point. But Demon’s Souls is the name on that list we’re most excited to see. Maybe 2022’s our year.
The original Demon’s Souls PC announcement was a mistake
PC fans were delightfully surprised to see a message at the very end of the State of Play Demon’s Souls trailer that promised it’s “Also available on PC.” It didn’t take long for the trailer to be pulled off PlayStation’s official YouTube channel. Later, Sony clarified to PC Gamer that the PC message at the end of the trailer was “human error” (opens in new tab) and that Demon’s Souls would be a PlayStation 5 exclusive.
When asked if Demon’s Souls would ever release on PC, Sony declined to elaborate further. It seems like Sony may be keeping the door open to a PC version, but wants everyone to be excited about its new console right now. Even if there really are zero PC plans right now, that could always change.
The Nvidia leak above was the first evidence that Demon’s Souls may actually be coming to PC, and so far it’s had a very good track record. It’s likely a matter of when, not if.
Check out these gorgeous Demon’s Souls trailers
The gameplay trailer shown off during September’s PS5 showcase was a beautiful demonstration of how Demon’s Souls will look and play on the PS5. It’s looking pretty amazing, so it’s even more disappointing that Sony retracted the PC announcement.
A version uploaded by Gamespot still shows the PC announcement at the end, despite Sony removing the trailer from its official channels and reuploading it with the message removed. It was real! We definitely didn’t imagine it.
Here’s another gameplay trailer showing boss fights with the Armor Spider and Flamelurker with a bit of exploration in between.
The Demon’s Souls remake secret door has been opened
Folks do love a good easter egg and it seems that Bluepoint has added one to their Demon’s Souls remake. Players quickly noticed a new, mysterious door that wasn’t in the original game. Through some photo mode trickery they’ve discovered there’s an item inside but unlocking it is still a mystery.
After days of dedicated players trying to work out what’s on the other side, streamer Distortion2 finally cracked the case. The secret isn’t quite as exciting as fans imagined, but it’s a cool addition nonetheless.
There’s a mysterious new door in the Demon’s Souls Remake, and no one knows how to open it👀https://t.co/TdpHLuIRsR pic.twitter.com/MwYjcNy7edNovember 14, 2020
Sony has said it’s exploring more PC ports
What makes Sony’s slip-up more perplexing is that, as recently as August 2020, the company expressed interest (opens in new tab) in more PC ports of its console exclusives. “We will explore expanding our 1st party titles to the PC platform in order to promote further growth in our profitability,” Sony’s 2020 corporate report states.
Sony’s first big plunge into the PC was Horizon: Zero Dawn (opens in new tab)‘s port released in August. We’ve also gotten solid hints that a PC version of The Last of Us 2 (opens in new tab) is in the works, and Media Molecule has openly stated that Dreams (opens in new tab) will someday come to PC. Suffice to say, it seems like nothing is off the table for Sony, so it’s disappointing that the company is being cagey about Demon’s Souls.
The game would almost certainly be a smash success on PC, too. That might be the case for any of Sony’s first-party games, but we have ample evidence that From Software’s RPGs are hugely popular. The first Dark Souls alone sold millions of copies on PC (opens in new tab), and the series has only gotten bigger since.
Why didn’t Demon’s Souls ever come to PC, anyway?
Unlike the Dark Souls series, which is fully developed by From Software and published by Bandai Namco, Demon’s Souls was a collaboration between From Software and Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Studio. Sony, presumably, owns the intellectual property, and until very recently, hasn’t released any of its games on PC. Bloodborne is a PS4-exclusive for the same reason.
This new version of Demon’s Souls is being developed by Bluepoint Games, seemingly without From Software’s collaboration. Even if the remake never gets a PC port, you can at least play the original via emulation (opens in new tab), with greatly improved resolution and framerate.
If it does come to PC, it might cost $70
That’s the price of the PS5 version, anyway. Companies have slowly been dipping their toes into a $70 price for new games, so this might be the end of the $60 standard. Hopefully PC games will still get a slight discount in some cases, but regardless, there’s always the next Steam sale.