Hello everyone. Thank you so much for your interest in Bloodborne during launch. We wanted to share some tips and guidance for the multiplayer experience for those that are encountering issues or have lingering questions. If you’re sensitive to spoiler content, please be advised that the below does contain material related to the story.
Online Multiplayer
Bloodborne features both cooperative and versus online multiplayer functionality.
Utilizing the new Suspend/Resume feature to put the PS4 into Rest mode without shutting down the game first causes players to be unable to complete matchmaking. Please be sure to restart the game in order to make sure you are able to connect online and matchmake for multiplayer.
This issue will be addressed in an upcoming patch.
Cooperative Play
Bloodborne features cooperative play for up to 3 players max. Below, the player initiating the cooperative session is the “host” and players who respond to that are the “guests.”
Cooperative Play rules: The goal of cooperative play is to join forces and work together to defeat enemies.
Initiating cooperative play:
- Host uses/rings the Beckoning Bell
- Guests use/ring the Small Resonant Bell
- Host and guest (up to 2 guests) are connected, and play within the Host’s game
Hints
- The “Beckoning Bell” can be found within the Hunter’s Dream when you have one or more Insight points.
- You can acquire the Small Resonant Bell from the Insight shop that appears in the Hunter’s Dream once you have at least 10 Insight points.
- If you have already defeated the boss in the area you are currently in, you won’t be able to use the Beckoning Bell. However you will still be able to use the Small Resonant Bell to join other player’s games as a Guest and assist them.
- The game does not match players who are too far apart in their current player Level.
Cooperative Play Completion
Once players successfully defeat the boss enemy in the area they are joined to, the guests receive a bonus reward and are returned to their own world/game.
Cooperative Play Incompletion
If the host or guest(s) die, or if a guest uses the Silencing Blank item, the guest(s) are returned to their own world/game, and do not receive the bonus reward.
Password
The multiplayer matchmaking for cooperative play is automatic and random. However by setting a password for your session, other players can enter the same password and be joined to your game. Passwords can be up to 8 letters long. *Passwords are only used for cooperative play, not Versus PvP sessions.
The game does not match players who are too far apart in their current player Level.
PvP Versus Play
Versus PvP allows players to face off against one another in combat. In the below outline, the player that gets invaded is the “Host” and the invader is the “guest.” Also note that in certain areas within the game, there can be up to two guests or invaders within a host’s game/world.
Versus Play Rules
When a host is in an area where a “bell-ringing woman” is present, Versus PvP invasions are possible.
The “bell-ringing woman” appears when playing cooperative play or when the “Sinister Resonant Bell” is used, but there are rare areas in the game where she appears on her own. The objective for the guest player that has invaded another player’s game is to defeat the host. If the invader is successful, s/he will be returned to his/her own game/world.
Initiating Versus play
- Guest uses/rings the Sinister Resonant Bell.
- Host begins cooperative play, or uses Sinister Resonant Bell to summon the bell-ringing woman.
- Guest is transported to host’s game/world.
- Host and guest play in Host’s game/world.
Hints
- When the Host’s Level is still low, the Bell-Ringing Woman will not appear when initiating Coop play.
- You can acquire the Sinister Resonant Bell from the Insight shop that appears in the Hunter’s Dream once you have at least 10 Insight points.
Versus Play Completion
If the guest is able to defeat the host, s/he will receive a reward and be returned to his/her game/world.
Versus Play Incompletion
If the guest dies, or the host makes it to the boss fight area, or if the guest chooses to use the Silencing Blank item, the guest is returned to his/her own game/world without receiving a reward for completing the versus play session.
Multiplayer within Chalice Dungeons
You can also play Multiplayer within Chalice Dungeons. In order to do so, all players must have the same Chalice Dungeon saved on their PS4. You can either share a dungeon you created from the Ritual Altar, or you can join dungeons created by other players via the “Ritual Altar” or the “Makeshift Altar.” By using Chalice Glyph, you can share a dungeon with just the person you have shared the Code with.
Hints
- There are certain requirements to joining a Chalice Dungeon created by another player.
- Normal Dungeons: If you have used that Chalice to create a dungeon, you will be able to join by searching.
- Root Chalice Dungeons: If you have already acquired the Root Chalice for that Ritual Level or Area, you can either search or join from search.
We will discuss Chalice Dungeons more in future posts here on the PlayStation.Blog. Please feel free to share your questions and comments below; the team will be reading.
On behalf of Japan Studio and FromSoftware, thank you to our beloved fans and the amazing PlayStation community for supporting Bloodborne. We’re overwhelmed with how the game has been received, and we look forward to continuing to fight alongside you (or against you) in and around Yharnam!
Fantastic game. Absolutely love it. I’ve not had any issues with the MP side of things. As for chalice dungeons I’ve co opped with a couple of friends on around 8 of them so far. All set a password and it connects within a couple of mins. Of course I’d like it to be quicker and it’s a pain being banished at the end of a layer but minor quibbles for me. Still about half way through the main game as the dungeons are keeping us occupied. :)
Yes, this game is amazing… Everything I was hoping for… Bar the Chalice Dungeon co-op matchmaking…
Anybody have problems finding dungeon co-op, add me sos21…
Please make this game 60fps with the next patch. There are no excuses to be made.
Metal Gear Solid 5 The Phantom Pain is going to be 60fps locked and that game is open world and will have tonnes of content. The ps4 can easily handle this game in 60fps.
I can’t wait to witness the first developer ever to make a PS4 game run at 120fps locked. Who ever cracks it first would be highly praised around the world. I do think it’s possible.
@Strangeheaven:
I rather doubt it is possible to simply ‘patch’ Bloodborne to run at 60fps on the PS4 without also scaling back the visual fidelity of the game. Personally, I would be totally fine playing without AA or AO; even having reduced lighting, shadowing, and particle effects; and yes, lower-rez textures if necessary; if the result could be a 60fps game experience. Unfortunately, publishers are so preoccupied with how console games look in screenshots and vid caps that we gamers are never presented with such an option.
My honest hope, then, is that the game can somehow be patched so that a locked 30fps is achievable. That, coupled with Sony/From finding a way to significantly abridge the loading times, would be reasonable, I feel.
@Strangeheaven:
I would be surprised if we ever see a 120fps game on the PS4: 1) Sony has always been sketchy about just how capable the console is in delivering advanced video at all from a hardware standpoint (is 4K a thing?); 2) As a practical matter, it makes sense to target a 60Hz refresh baseline when developing games for a living-room TV scenario; and 3) It seems like 60fps is already a challenging mark for devs to hit on the PS4, so if a 120fps game could be released, it would probably be some sort of programming novelty that would look and play strangely, yet would exist simply so a developer could claim that “it could be done.”
spexX_ , Go back to DS2 after Bloodborne? I guess not everyone can cut it with the faster gameplay in Demon and Blood. Simple and made to please a bigger audience describes DS2 to the letter.
Also, it’s very inexpensive to buy vials and bullets, and you want From/Sony Japan to resupply you with items that you used during gameplay? And you accuse the mechanics of being hit with simpleton spice while making this complaint?
Strangeheaven, Not every game can be 60fps. MGS5 looks great but it is not nearly as detailed and has lower quality effects all around.
Bloodborne has huge detailed monsters and environments while MGS5 enemies are lower detail and environments are drab. They are different games with different goals. It’s like comparing a Mercedes sedan to an all terrain Jeep. Two different vehicles for very different purposes.
Would like some help on beating a boss my tag is redxscythe ps4
As if to illustrate my point on how little Strangeheaven actually comprehends about graphics, coding, or even basic human qualities….he is “hoping” to see a game with a locked 120fps.
The human eye cannot detect anything beyond 60fps. We literally cannot notice the difference between a game that would run at 60fps and a game that would run at 4,000fps. To us there is no difference, at all. A game locked at 60fps would be all we would ever need and is quite realistically all we could hope for as no developer or producer would ever want to waste money on something none of their customers would ever be able to notice or appreciate.
How can I make the most of nothing? It’s a total hassle to do coop, waiting for long minutes with no results. Fix that crap, you got it right for Dark Souls 2, what happened??
So wait… if you want to have cooperative play, you AUTOMATICALLY open yourself up to pvp? Lovely. One of the biggest things that kept me from enjoying the souls games was that there was no way to avoid the absurdly boring pvp stuff WITHOUT sacrificing all the interesting passive and cooperative online components.
You guys are killing my interest. Glad I didn’t buy day 1… this information may ensure I never do.
Anyone else having the problem where specters only pop up like 1 in 5 times after you choose to view them? Bit frustrating. That, and the loading times need to be addressed.
Great game but like seriously. Why go from a simple and consistent coop mechanic to such a complicated one? Summoning takes way to long to find players in Bloodborne. Hopefully it’ll get fixed.
@ Death8u4u
Your totally wrong about the human eye being restricted to 60fps. It would not surprise me if the human eye can detect above 1000fps. No joke either.
about summoning help: can it be done at every boss? do you get less echoes?
thanks.
greatest game for PS4
Hey guys quick solution to the connection problem.
1. Good to the dream world and take off the Vilebood ruin or the other Radiance Ruin, because they are from opposite areas of the game they seem to get in the way of connecting.
2. If your friends does not have this ruin then take it off also. Hope this works
Been loving the multiplayer. Bringing back the joys I had doing it for countless hours in Demons Souls.
I really enjoy the chalices, but I wish you could just do a whole one with a friend and both get rewards… Single player is great but maybe some competitive versus or team boss fight instances?
For most games the multiplayer is a pretty simple process. This is a huge red flag that something is wrong when a creator has to walk us through the process. I love this game but the multiplayer sucks. I hate the level restrictions and I hate spending hours waiting for someone to join my game or for me to find someone’s game to join. This should be a simple. Another issue I have is with the broken elevator at the altar of despair, this bug has prevented me from fighting a optional boss and receiving a chalice. which are both connected to trophies. I’ve been looking for updates or news about a new patch 1.03 but have heard nothing from either company. if anyone who reads this has connections with From Software and/or Japan Studio could you please mention these issues since I am not sure if they are aware and a blog saying” we are aware of the multiplayer and elevator issues and are currently working to fix it” or something like that would be a welcome update. we pay a lot of money for this game and it’s unfortunate that problems like these can ruin the journey. Please communicate on a regular basis with your customers so we know what is happening.
They need to fix the coop play! I tried playing with my friends and it was a mess. First we couldn’t get matched then when we got connected the game only let one player in and the other player couldn’t get in, and were around the same level. Also, we were using a password and doing everything written in this article. People pay their hard earned money for this game and shouldn’t have too worry about coop issues! Furthermore, I hope this can be addressed because on box it says up too three players coop and I feel people that brought the game should get just that without any problems. If this is not fixed then please remove coop all together, because if this issue is not addressed then I will not buy the next From-Software game.
Summoning system is trash on this game but theres a way around it. Least if your trying to summon random folks.
Once your in area to summon somebody, completely shut off the game itself. Load game back up and ring Beckoning bell. It appears that theres no wait at all once you do this. Otherwise game seems to glitch up badly and makes you wait 15-hours+ till it picks someone up.
Really though, how did they drop the ball so hard on this bell system. Its complete trash.
I hope the Devs will really read these responses ppl made.
For me the game has been both a success and a failure. The graphics, desing, gameplay is awesome, thou with some minor movement glitches near/next to objects. For me Bloodborne is the first Souls game I played, and yes I struggled ALOT untill the mid of the game, had to get used to the movement, attacks, timing, occasional farming for levels to progress further, etc. That’s all good, it’s meant to be hard! And it is!
But then there is the downside:
– camera rotation and movement when fighting giant enemies is total trash. There is no automatic zooming, or even manual zooming option to use, on some bosses you fights in tight areas and you just cannot see what the boss is doing (which attack he is charging up, etc), aside from you trying to get away from him to evade death (which comes soon after). Please, fix this so we can have even better gameplay on bosses.
…
– Multiplayer – I know alot of ppl bash on this, but YES, I’m very dissappointed… I find the Bell system to be a good idea, somethign new, but the time it takes to connect to others, the setting up of portforwarding (useless it seems), the need to shut the game down all the time to finally maybe get connected,… All unnecesary issues that the devs should have avoided before releasing the game.
I bought the game to play with my 2 friends, I tried for 2 days to get connected with them, we didnt play at all as we needed to keep in the level range, then gave up and continued on our own. So much for CO-OP play. So far I’ve only been raided several times, haven’t had the chance to team-up with anyone yet. Right now, I can’t to that anymore, as I started to level heavy, atm im 220+ and I’m trying for more, thou it’s just brainless farm atm and playing solo is just depressing.
Starting a new character just to try and maybe connect with some players is useless as that would take like 15 mins before the host would die or we would kill a boss. So again, pointless…
…
Please From, respond to the community and fix your game so players and FRIENDS can play together no matter what. This is 2015 and the co-op system is just TRASH! This game has so much re-play potential since it has co-op mode, but only if it works without limits!
IDEA – have players enter password to connect to each other in specific areas of the game no matter what the level gap is, so we can have fun together, trash some mobs and bosses, help each other, or just help some new guy who is looking for help, as he may be new to this game and struggle as I did. Again, it’s 2015 and these things should be a must-have in online games. I still don’t understand why the game developers don’t get this.
So again, so much potential in BB, such great game, but such fails on the side – please fix! All the players will be thankful for it! Especially the possible new players who may pick the game up to play with their IRL buddies. Yay!
/rant off
/cya
InB4 ppl respond, Yes, some things are getting fixed with 1.03 Patch, but the multiplayer aspect of the game will still be hurting.
Loving the game so far!
I’m working on a website to help you find other players.
Check it out, I would love some feedback: http://bloodbornelfg.com