Must-Play Soulslike May Release On Nintendo Hardware Sooner Than We Thought

Published Jul 20, 2026, 12:19 PM EDT Kyle Gratton is an editor and writer based out of Kansas City. He received a bachelor's degree, dual majoring in English and History with a minor in Film and Media Studies, and has been a senior staff writer and reviewer for Screen Rant's Gaming section since 2021, with roles in editorial, and various freelance projects. A terminal Midwesterner who graduated from the University of Kansas, Kyle also has knowledge and interest in literature, film, film adaptions of literature, and history. Find Kyle on Bluesky: kwg.bsky.social and Letterboxd: KyleG5 As if you needed more games on your release calendar, the Nintendo Switch 2 appears to be receiving a lauded soulslike sooner than expected. The console's second year is starting off with a gauntlet of marquee titles; Splatoon Raiders a few days from now, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave in September, the return of Nintendo Switch Sports with Resort in October, and that's just the platform exclusives with release dates. As the Switch 2 supersedes its predecessor with a wide gap in specs, third-party ports are still rolling in. Last year, developer Shift Up revealed that Stellar Blade, its acclaimed sci-fi action-adventure game, would be coming to Nintendo and Xbox hardware, though no date was set at the time. The game has been so successful that a sequel was announced earlier this year, revealed to be Stellar Blade: Blood Rain at Summer Game Fest. Shift Up is still hoping to get the original into more hands, though, and Switch 2 owners may be able to play it quite soon. Stellar Blade was recently rated for the Nintendo Switch 2 by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). It has, unsurprisingly, been rated M for Mature (ages 17+), because it features blood and gore, strong language, suggestive themes, and violence. A port receiving the same rating as previous versions is, obviously, expected, but the rating itself is an indication that Stellar Blade's Switch 2 version is nearing launch. ESRB ratings often preclude a release date announcement, and we would expect the turnaround to the date to be fairly quick. Since its release in 2024, Stellar Blade has been considered among the best soulslikes, a genre that is intensely scrutinized because of the excellence of the FromSoftware games from which they take influence. Stellar Blade doesn't really have all the trappings of a soulslike; Shift Up's parry-heavy, rhythmic hack-and-slash draws a lot of comparisons to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, which is similarly more of an action game with soulslike elements. Our Stellar Blade review awarded it a 9/10 score, praising its combat mechanics, boss design, and soundtrack, and "Though its narrative pacing and world-building may falter slightly, Stellar Blade as a whole is an action-packed marvel." It was originally a PlayStation 5 exclusive, then came to PC last year, and seems on track for its Switch 2 release before 2026 is out. Its ESRB rating for the Switch 2 doesn't give us a clear idea of a possible release date, only that the port is approaching completion, but it's entering a very busy second half of the year. Even aside from the massive new releases (Grand Theft Auto 6, the Ocarina of Time remake), Stellar Blade has some soulslike competition on the Switch 2 specifically. FromSoftware's Elden Ring is finally getting its Tarnished Edition release on the Switch 2 in August, and the best non-FromSoft soulslike, Neowiz and Round8's Lies of P, is also arriving on Nintendo's console the same month. Action RPG and soulslike fans on the Nintendo Switch 2 are in for a feast as Stellar Blade appears poised to join that lineup any day now. 9/10 Brand Nintendo Original Release Date June 5, 2025 Original MSRP (USD) $449.99 Operating System Proprietary Storage 256GB internal / MicroSD Resolution 1080p (handheld) / 4K (docked)