Bloodborne's servers are going offline for an unknown period of time in order for developer From Software to conduct emergency maintenance.
Players found themselves unable to play online with friends, which is an even bigger bummer considering the game's expansion, "The Old Hunters," just released last week. The server maintenance wasn't widely announced, so it came as a surprise to players.
From Software isn't saying exactly why the servers are going down, though it may be to fix serious exploits within the game.
Here is what one team member of From Software had to say about the maintenance on Reddit:
"Thanks to the community here, we've received some really important feedback about an exploit and serious issues that exist in the game," lead hosting engineer Tim Wernicke writes. "The game is currently undergoing emergency maintenance, and we're working nonstop to get some things patched and back online. So a huge thank-you to everyone here for the feedback, and please be patient while we work to get things restored."
Wernicke specifically mentions an "exploit" and "serious issues" in his post, leading Kotaku to report that the servers could be offline due to an exploit that would allow for players to experience the game's $20 DLC for free. A thread about an "Old Hunters free DLC glitch" appeared a few days ago on Reddit and has since been deleted, which matches up nicely with Wernicke's comments on how the community on Reddit helped identify an exploit.
When asked for more specifics on the reason behind the server maintenance, Wernicke couldn't provide any more details.
"I apologize that I can't be more specific, but I wanted to let you know that we value your feedback, and what you're doing here is really helping," he writes. "So, thanks!"
If From Software is indeed looking to fix a free DLC exploit, it wouldn't want to publicize the fact, as that would only lead more players to try and snag the extra content without paying.
Regardless of the reason, Bloodborne's servers should be online again in a few days.
