Bloodborne running on PS5 at 120 FPS and super high resolution is finally a reality, but it has come from the work of a modder, not an official update or remaster from Sony.

The tech experts at Digital Foundry have confirmed a modder called Christina has developed a series of patches that unlock better performance for PS4 games running on PS5, and have tested them with FromSoftware’s masterpiece. DF reports Bloodborne runs at a “properly paced” 33.3ms frames in 4K resolution using the mods on PS5, with even the game's fonts rendering at a native 4K.

Taking Bloodborne a step further, DF showed the game running locked at 60 frames per second at 2560x1440 resolution, and even at 120Hz. This, it seems, is possible for pretty much any PS4 game.

“We've seen 120Hz on PS4 apps running on PS5 before — specifically Call of Duty Warzone before the native current-gen upgrade arrived,” Digital Foundry said. “But via modding, it seems to be the case that just about any PS4 app can run in 120Hz mode and VRR can be enabled too. Add a frame-rate unlock patch and games like Bloodborne can run at up to 120fps. Keep resolution at 1080p and you're looking at a circa 85fps-120fps VRR experience. Move up to 1440p and it's more like 50-75fps. Still, with v-sync out of the picture, input lag reduces, making for a more responsive game. It's a world apart from the original 30fps experience.”

As Digital Foundry notes, modding on PS5 isn’t really something the vast majority of players will do, so this remains a niche pursuit for now. But it reinforces the point that Bloodborne really could have done with an update or remaster years ago. Even now, with the PS5 nearing its sixth birthday, a Bloodborne update would surely spark a surge in sales of the original game.

While there are technical hurdles, DF insists it’s entirely possible for Sony to unlock the potential of PS4 games running on PS5 in this way. There are a huge number of games that would benefit — DF singles out Batman Arkham Knight.

“There are clear technical hurdles in getting enhanced PS4 games running on PS5. The game needs to run on much later SDK development environments, which all but rules out most of the older library. Sony would need to implement a system-level solution that adds extra memory for PS4 games to access to run at much higher pixel counts. And it would need to grant PS4 apps full CPU and GPU clock speeds, while also adding a per-title patching system to allow games to defeat their in-built resolution and frame-rate limits. But it is possible and if there's no chance of a Bloodborne remaster or an upgrade along the lines of prior PS4 patches, this is the only route forward.”

Let’s remember that the now-shuttered Bluepoint, the studio behind the successful Shadow of the Colossus and Demon's Souls remakes, reportedly pitched a Bloodborne remake last year that was rejected not by Sony, as many had thought, but by FromSoftware itself.

Bloodborne's status has long been in limbo, with various individuals with ties to the project sharing conflicting thoughts on what can be made of it. Back in 2024, FromSoftware director Hidetaka Miyazaki said it was "not in my place" to talk about a Bloodborne remake because FromSoftware does not own the IP. He also told Eurogamer at the time that the game would benefit from a release on modern hardware.

Then, the following year, PlayStation's Shuhei Yoshida offered a theory on KindaFunny as to what was going on with Bloodborne that may match up with what happened to Bluepoint's pitch: "Bloodborne has always been the most asked thing. And people wonder why we haven’t really done anything, even an update or a remaster. Should be easy, right? The company is known for doing so many remasters, right, some people get frustrated.

"I have only my personal theory to that situation. I left first-party so I don’t know what’s going on, but my theory is, you know because I remember, you know, Miyazaki-san really, really loved Bloodborne, you know, what he created. So I think he is interested, but he’s so successful and he’s so busy, so he doesn’t want, he cannot do himself, but he does not want anyone else to touch it. So that’s my theory. And the PlayStation team respect his wish. So that’s my guess, right? Theory. I am not revealing any secret information, to be clear."

Oh well. We'll always have JackSepticEye's Bloodborne movie, I suppose.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.