Bloodborne Kart is upgrading from a meme to an unofficial fangame

Written by. Nick Mosier based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2022-03-25 12:35 JST)

Solo game developer Lilith Walther has announced Bloodborne Kart, a racing game derived from the hit FromSoftware title Bloodborne. While originally born as a meme, it looks like the curious idea is going to be unleashed on the world as an actually playable game. The game will likely be released on PC and is planned to launch “When it’s ready.”

Lilith Walther is known as the developer behind the unofficial PlayStation 1-esque “demake” of Bloodborne, titled Bloodborne PSX. The game was released on February 1 of this year and is available to download for free on itch.io. Bloodborne Kart looks to use assets from the demake as the above teaser trailer shows The Hunter straddling a motorcycle at the starting line of a race. Bloodborne Kart will likely feature a cast of Bloodborne characters hopping into vehicles for some racing.

The idea of using Bloodborne’s gloomy atmosphere for a kart racer has a history of being a meme among fans. While the origin of the idea isn’t entirely clear, a YouTuber by the name of Redtreevortex traced the meme back to a post on Reddit from 2017 in their investigative video.

At the time, Bloodborne Kart seems to have just been a logo image. But as it gained attention, one user created a collage of images that looked like actual gameplay. Furthermore, there were attempts to actually make a playable Bloodborne Kart. Then, on April 1 of last year while developing Bloodborne PSX, Walther posted a video to Twitter stating they were making Bloodborne Kart, which spread across the internet as an April Fools’ joke.

Todays #BloodbornePSX is an announcement that the project is CANCELED and we're making #BloodborneKART instead, check it out! pic.twitter.com/qzq6QCqC5h
— 🪄✨ PSX Bunlith 🏳️‍⚧️ BLM ACAB 🇵🇸 (@b0tster) April 1, 2021

From meme to April Fools’ joke, it looks like Bloodborne Kart is finally becoming a reality. In the trailer Walther released, there is some deviation from the original game’s brooding atmosphere, though, as it sports what sounds like a more upbeat version of “Lullaby for Mergo” from the original Bloodborne. But just who will be joining The Hunter on the racetrack and what will they be driving? And why are they even racing to begin with? We’re left with more questions than answers at this point.