Comments from FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki have been making the rounds recently for providing an insight into the future of Elden Ring. Miyazaki, who was the director behind the hard-as-nails action RPG, said in an interview with Game Watch (translated by Google Translate) that he wasn’t interested in making a direct Elden Ring sequel. This statement of his came as a surprise to many, considering how well-received the game was when it debuted in 2022. Although Miyazaki did suggest that FromSoftware was still open to expanding the Elden Ring IP in other ways, it seems like any hope that players may have had for a follow-up to the game is as good as dead, at least for the foreseeable future.
Elden Ring was, quite literally, the textbook example of a successful new IP. The game broke records not just for FromSoftware, but for its publisher, Bandai Namco, as well. It sold more than 25 million copies in just two years, making it one of the best-selling games of all time and the most commercially successful FromSoftware game ever made. Not many people were skeptical of Elden Ring‘s sales potential prior to its release, but it still managed to shatter everyone’s expectations in this regard. As such, the fact that FromSoftware isn’t even interested in making a sequel to a game as successful as Elden Ring brings into question the likelihood of the firm releasing new installments in any of its other major IPs.
Related
Elden Ring Skipping a Full-Fledged Sequel Is Not Necessarily a Bad Thing
There aren’t any plans for an Elden Ring sequel, and while this may disappoint some fans, it’s probably for the best in the long run.
FromSoftware May Not Be Interested in Making Sequels to Its Major Franchises
FromSoftware Has Released Only a Handful of Sequels in the Last Decade
FromSoftware made a name for itself in the 90s, 2000s, and 2010s, with three noteworthy franchises: King’s Field, Dark Souls, and Armored Core. These days, only one of these series is still active, that being Armored Core. To further drive home the point, ever since Miyazaki became FromSoftware’s CEO in May 2014, the company has only released two sequels in its previously established franchises. Those include 2023’s Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon and 2016’s Dark Souls 3. Every other game FromSoftware has developed in the last 10 years has been a new intellectual property, from Elden Ring and Bloodborne to Deracine and Sekiro.
FromSoftware did launch
Monster Hunter Diary: Poka Poka Airou Village DX
on Nintendo 3DS in 2015, but it only came out in Japan and wasn’t technically a new game, since it had initially debuted on the PSP in 2010.
Miyazaki is Not Against Making Sequels, But He’s Not Too Interested in Them, Either
Given how infrequently FromSoftware has developed new entries in its long-running franchises as of late, many have assumed that Hidetaka Miyazaki hates making sequels. This, however, isn’t necessarily true. Back in 2018, Miyazaki said during an interview with Edge Magazine that he had “no preference” when it came to deciding whether to work on new IPs or sequels. Brand-new intellectual properties, he stated, gave him and the team “a lot more creative freedom to try new ideas.” Sequels, meanwhile, allowed him to “refine existing ideas” from his previous works.
With that being said, Miyazaki has been a little reluctant about the idea of making sequels to some of FromSoftware’s classic games. In 2015, for instance, the esteemed developer told GameSpot that he didn’t “think it’d be the right choice to continue indefinitely creating Dark Souls and Bloodborne games,” echoing some of the sentiments he shared in the past. Earlier this year, Miyazaki also said in an interview with Rolling Stone that he wasn’t interested in creating new installments in legacy FromSoftware IPs, like King’s Field , Otogi, and Enchanted Arms.
FromSoftware’s Next Game Will Likely Be a New IP Instead of a Sequel
FromSoftware is currently developing several new games in a multitude of genres, including titles directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki and titles not directed by him. According to Miyazaki, FromSoftware aims to show players “a new side” of the company “in a variety of ways” with its upcoming releases. Frankly, it’s anyone’s guess as to what projects FromSoftware is working on, but given how the studio appears to be diversifying its portfolio and moving away from established franchises, there’s a good chance that its next game will be a new IP of some sort, and it may not even be a Soulslike as most expect.
From Software
Based in Japan, FromSoftware is a development company best known for the Souls series and Armored Core franchise. Other popular games from From Software include Elden Ring, Sekiro, Bloodborne, and the King’s Field series.
- Date Founded
- November 1, 1986
- Headquarters
- Tokyo, Japan
- CEO
- Hidetaka Miyazaki
- Parent Company
- Kadokawa
- Known For
- dark souls , Armored Core