If you’ve been waiting for The Duskbloods—the upcoming FromSoftware exclusive for Switch 2—you’re not alone. The first playtest is next month, and feverish fans have been filling the void with elaborate shitposts on the game’s unofficial subreddit. The problem? Google’s AI search doesn’t know it’s all a joke.
As Ian Walker over at Video Game Town first spotted, the subreddit r/TheDuskbloods has become a breeding ground for fake lore, fictional bosses, and made-up unlockable characters. Think “Bugout Billy,” “Blood Mistress Elizabeth,” and “Lycan Vrykolakas”—a “Blaidd 2” that’s “absolute cinema” according to the posters. The humor is obvious to anyone in on the gag. But to Google’s AI, this stuff is as real as a press release.
Here’s the thing: The Duskbloods hasn’t even been released yet. The closed network test trailer dropped in June, but the game itself is still under wraps. Yet when you ask Google AI for a list of confirmed bosses, it’s perfectly willing to tell you that Lycan Vrykolakas is a real enemy you can fight, or that Bugout Billy is an unlockable character you get by beating the “Duskbug Brigade” boss in the “Underdusk” zone. No disclaimer, no caveat. Just confident misinformation.
I tried this myself. Asking Google for a straightforward list of Duskbloods bosses returned a cautious answer: none have been officially announced, but Reddit has been making them up. Good. But rephrase the question slightly—ask for a “rundown of Bugout Billy’s features and abilities”—and the AI happily obliges, citing the same fake Reddit post as a source. It even gives you a detailed unlock method “thanks to leaks” that don’t exist. No warning that the source is a circlejerk.
This isn’t an isolated incident, either. A Reddit post from two months ago introduced “Sanguiphisto,” the “undisputed S+ tier challenge” boss. Google AI picked it up, along with “Orlac” and “Blood Mistress Elizabeth.” The well has been poisoned for a while.
Now, it’s easy to laugh at this. The FromSoftware community is famously goofy, and the Duskbloods subreddit is having a blast. But the broader implications are less funny. Google’s AI is ingesting user-generated bullshit as fact, and it’s only a matter of time before someone looking for real information gets burned. Worse, this isn’t limited to video game rumors. If the AI can’t distinguish between a ranked list of fake bosses and a real medical FAQ, we’ve got a problem.
The timing is especially glaring. The Duskbloods playtest is next month, and real information will start flowing. By then, Google’s AI might have absorbed enough fake lore to confuse even the most dedicated fan. The company has been spending billions on AI infrastructure, yet the model still can’t tell when a subreddit is having a laugh.
So what’s next? The Duskbloods playtest will likely be the first real look at the game. Until then, Google’s AI will keep treating “Bugout Billy” as a canonical character. And if you’re a prospective buyer hoping to get a straight answer, you’re better off ignoring the search results and waiting for Nintendo’s official reveals.
The real question is how many more times Google’s AI will fall for Reddit jokes before the company fixes the source-level trust problem. For now, it’s a funny story about a game that isn’t out yet. Tomorrow, it could be a fake news story about a real-world event.
Enjoy the memes while they last. But don’t trust the AI that can’t tell them apart from reality.
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