Elden Ring, Dark Souls series, and Bloodborne creator FromSoftware is known to push boundaries whenever possible, but the Japanese developer is facing pressure from investors in its parent company Kadokawa to rely more on safe content and sequels to deliver value and improve its recent poor performance. However, President Hidetaka Miyazaki is pushing back, promising to maintain the studio's autonomy to deliver truly valuable games.
"Regarding the matter you inquired about, I am aware of all the facts that have been reported. However, we are not in a position to know any further details, and there are many other people involved besides ourselves, so to be honest, it is difficult for us to comment in depth on this matter. Therefore, please understand that this is limited to what I can tell you personally, and it is my opinion, not the company's." said the Elden Ring director to Den Faminico Gamer, who reached out to him for a comment on the matter.
"First of all, I am generally satisfied with the development environment that FromSoftware currently has. I wouldn't say there aren't any areas for improvement, but we are able to freely create the games we want to make without excessive interference," he continued. "And I believe that maintaining such an environment in the future, allowing us to concentrate solely on game development as much as possible, is of utmost importance to both myself and to us at FromSoftware." This development environment is the reason behind their output, Miyazaki-san added.
"Finally, if our users happen to read this message, we want to assure you that we will continue to work harder than ever to create truly valuable games. We hope you will look forward to our upcoming titles, both those already announced and those yet to be announced," the Elden Ring director concluded.
Although Miyazaki-san commented only on his behalf, and not on that of the whole company, it is very likely that all of FromSoftware is pushing back against this pressure. Following the release of Elden Ring, the Japanese studio worked on Elden Ring Nightreign, a multiplayer roguelite spin on the original game's formula that many were skeptical about, but that ended up being well-received.
And instead of following this game up with a more traditional Soulslike experience, FromSoftware doubled down on experimentation with The Duskbloods, which promises to shake up the gameplay formula the studio created and perfected.
With games like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Déraciné thrown into the mix while FromSoftware was becoming more appreciated than ever before with the Dark Souls series, it's really easy to agree with Miyazaki-san about the pressure-free environment being the reason for the studio's high-quality output. Hopefully, he will indeed continue to protect it in the future. While many welcome a sequel to Bloodborne, the over-reliance on sequels and established franchises is making the entire gaming industry feel staler and staler.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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