More than five years after its initial release, fans are patiently waiting for any news on a second installment of Bloodborne, FromSoftware's first notable departure from the Dark Souls franchise. Despite its differences from that series, its common developer led to it being grouped together anyway in a term frequently referred to as Soulsborne. However, since FromSoftware has released other titles such as Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and the upcoming Elden Ring, the term SoulsBorne seems outdated and inconsequential now. The only way for FromSoftware to really cement this as a genre would be to release a sequel in the form of Bloodborne 2.
Of course, there has been absolutely no official word that the developer is even considering making a Bloodborne 2. Similarly, the idea hasn't been shot down either, so it's really anyone's guess as to whether or not it will happen. Given FromSoftware's relatively small size, in order for Bloodborne 2 to be created, it would have to rank higher priority than Elden Ring, a Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice sequel, and any potential Dark Souls remakes. This doesn't mean that it is impossible by any measure of the word, just that it will probably be some time before a sequel releases.
Soulsborne or Soulslike
When referring to FromSoftware games, the two common terms one will hear are Soulsborne and Soulslike, but the difference between them isn't very well documented. In its most basic form, Soulsborne refers to the Dark Souls trilogy, Demon's Souls, and Bloodborne, whereas Soulslike seems to encompass all of those games in addition to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and the upcoming Elden Ring. Even with this loose definition, it is plain to see that the two terms are hardly different from one another, and there are some major problems with referring to games as Soulslike.
The biggest issue which comes up is when other games are similar in genre or style to Dark Souls that aren't made by FromSoftware. The most obvious examples of this would be games like Team Ninja's Nioh or CI Games' heavily Souls inspired Lords of the Fallen, but some players even refer to Ghost of Tsushima as a soulslike game, despite that being faulty at best. It would be difficult to argue that Dark Souls didn't start a pseudo genre of its own, so having a term to denote games that are similar to the Dark Souls franchise but not part of it makes sense, but this clashes with the previously explained use of Soulslike.
Cementing the Soulsborne Genre
Between the two games of FromSoftware, Bloodborne is easily more Dark Souls than Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and so these two games will be tied together. But if FromSoftware really wants to make a point to drive home that distinction, the best thing it can do would be to release Bloodborne 2 on PS5 and double down on some of the similarities between the two games. That isn't to say that Bloodborne 2 should be a Dark Souls clone, but rather that the two's similarities should be a major focus of the game.
This would effectively cement the Soulsborne genre and give it meaning. Currently, the only difference between Soulsborne and Soulslike is that one includes Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and the other doesn't. With Bloodborne 2, Soulsborne would refer to that game as well, and the term Soulslike could be used for titles similar to the Dark Souls franchise like those mentioned above but not quite the same. On top of all of this, fans would love nothing more than to get a sequel to Bloodborne, so it seems like a win win for all parties involved.
Bloodborne is available now exclusively on PS4.