Bloodborne’s unofficial kart racer is already an ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ success on Steam

After years of development, all starting as an April Fool’s joke, the once Bloodborne-themed arcade racer now known as Nightmare Kart has finally been unleashed to the masses, and despite being slowed down by Sony protecting their IP, it’s already become an absolute success.

Created by solo developer Lilith “Bunlith” Walther (LWMedia), Nightmare Kart started as an elaborate April Fools joke: a fake trailer for a PS1 title that mixed the dark horrors of FromSoftware’s PlayStation 4 exclusive with the whimsy of kart racers like Mario Kart and, more appropriately, the Crash Team Racing series. The mixture turned out to work so well that after loads of fan demand, Walther decided to dive into full development.

Now, the fully-fledged single-player kart racer is available completely free on Steam and itch.io, for all fans of gothic horror and racing to enjoy. The horror elements of not-bloodborne mix with the uncannyness of old school retro graphics, pointy polygons, and some incredible music to become an experience unlike anything you might have seen this year.

And yes, originally the game was a Bloodborne tribute, complete with recognizable characters and names. So while you can’t race as The Doll and Gehrman anymore, you can still go into the hunt as Onette and Herman. Hey, we also get a Mistress Marie and even a Baby Margo. You can check the original’s visuals below, from before the dev had to delay the game to overhaul the title in response to a cease & desist from Sony.

It’s a perfect treat while we wait for FromSoftware to release the upcoming DLC for Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree. But just the same, it is a great moment to turn your head to LWMedia and the hundreds of other indie developers who work tirelessly to release dream projects such as this while the “major” side of the industry is plagued by corporate-mandated layoffs and studio closures.