Fan-made Bloodborne Kart will get a rebranded release in May after Sony made it remove the IP

03.04.2024 - 18:59 / videogameschronicle.com / Chris Scullion / Lilith Walther

A fan-made karting game originally based on Bloodborne has a new release date, after it was delayed following action by IP holder Sony.

Previously known as Bloodborne Kart but now renamed Nightmare Kart, the game was supposed to be released as a free download on itch.io on January 31.

Indie developer Lilith Walther had previously released Bloodborne PSX, a PC ‘demake’ of FromSoftware‘s game that reimagines how the game would have played running on the first PlayStation.

After fans of the game suggested that Walther should then make a PS1 version of Bloodborne Kart – a fake meme from 2017 – she announced on April Fool’s Day 2021 that she was indeed starting work on it.

It was announced in November that the game was set for a January 31 release, but Walther then received a letter from Sony demanding that she remove all Bloodborne branding from the game.

According to Walther, this delayed the game and prevented her from releasing it on January 31 as planned, but it will now be released on May 31 under its new name, Nightmare Kart.

Featuring 20 (legally distinct) racers, 16 maps and a full campaign mode with boss fights, Nightmare Kart will be a free download on Steam and itch.io.

Publishers tend to show some leniency towards fan-made games if, as in the case of Bloodborne Kart, they aren’t being sold for profit.

There are some situations, however, where such games are still issued with takedown notices, as in the recent example of Pokémon fan game repository Relic Castle being shut down following a reported DMCA notice.