Bloodborne Kart won't be 'Bloodborne Kart' anymore after a letter from Sony, but the devs are excited to make it an original thing: 'This is a fan game no more!'

We still don't have Bloodborne on PC yet, but who needs it? We've got something even better on the way: Bloodborne Kart, a PlayStation-style demake that somehow evolved from a seeming April Fool's gag into a fully-fledged kart racing game. It was intended to be out on January 31, but developer Lilith Walther said today that the team needs to tap the brakes so they can ditch the Bloodborne branding at Sony's request.

Bloodborne Kart was announced in August 2022 and it gave us immediate high hopes. Walther was one of the creators of the excellent BloodbornePSX demake, for one thing, and that set the bar pretty high on its own. But the mere concept of Bloodborne Kart is inherently interesting—I mean, "What if Bloodborne, but kart racing?" is something you have to be at least a little curious about.

And it's not just some five-minutes-and-finished novelty game: Bloodborne Kart promises 12 racers, 16 maps, a "full singleplayer campaign mode," split-screen local multiplayer, a versus battle mode, and—I have no idea how this is going to work, but there it is—boss fights.

The good news is that Sony isn't looking to kill the project outright, but it does want it cleaned up a bit for the lawyers.

"Sony contacted me," Walther tweeted today. "Long story short I need to scrub the branding off of what was previously known as Bloodborne Kart, which we will do. But that requires a short delay. Don't worry, the game is still coming out! It'll just look slightly different."

HELP. IT HAPPENED Sony contacted me 🫣 Long story short I need to scrub the branding off of what was previously known as Bloodborne Kart, which we will do. But that requires a short delay. Don't worry, the game is still coming out! It'll just look slightly different Like I've said in multiple interviews, we were all expecting this to happen so we could be pleasantly surprised if it didn't It happened, so we're shifting gears (ha) to take care of it. I'll get back to y'all ASAP when we figured out a new release date!! As much as I pushed for this to be "the meme made real" so to speak, turning this into an original game that we have full creative control over is kind of exciting. This is a fan game no more! Regardless, thanks for understanding everyone!! — (Image credit: Lilith Walther (Twitter))

Walther doesn't seem too bothered by the development, saying the developers expected it to happen anyway, "so we're shifting gears to take care of it." There's also clearly some excitement about moving away from the Bloodborne branding a little, and making it a full-on new thing.

"As much as I pushed for this to be 'the meme made real' so to speak, turning this into an original game that we have full creative control over is kind of exciting," she tweeted. "This is a fan game no more!"

A new release date for the game formerly known as Bloodborne Kart will be announced once the team has the details figured out. In the meantime, if you haven't given it a go yet, you can snag BloodbornePSX from Itch.io.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.