FromSoftware Was ‘Disappointed’ By Sony’s Handling of Demon’s Souls

Former Sony exec Shuhei Yoshida shared that FromSoftware’s decision to publish Dark Souls with Bandai Namco was a direct result of how Sony handled Demon’s Souls. Although FromSoftware and Sony have a few different partnerships and Demon’s Souls has received much more attention in recent PlayStation branding, it appears that their relationship may have had a couple of hurdles in the beginning, serving as a learning experience.

Many gamers find the relationship between FromSoftware and Sony to be especially interesting since titles that they have released as partners like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Bloodborne have turned out to be massive hits, but there seems to be hesitation from both ends about more involved collaborations. PlayStation alum Shuhei Yoshida has spoken more about what deals were like behind the scenes, and it’s helped to elucidate matters between these companies.

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VGC reports that in an interview on the Sacred Symbols podcast, former Sony Interactive Entertainment president Shuhei Yoshida recalled how Sony’s handling of Demon’s Souls impacted their relationship with FromSoftware. Yoshida shared that although Sony wanted to work with the developer on the sequel to Demon’s Souls, the game that would eventually be known as Dark Souls, its treatment of FromSoft’s work led to FromSoft choosing Bandai Namco as its next partner.

FromSoft Didn’t Like Sony’s Treatment of Demon’s Souls

Demon’s Souls was published by Atlus in North America and Bandai Namco in Europe, which has been attributed to its reception during playtests with Sony. In the past, Yoshida reflected on his experience Demon’s Souls, spending a couple of hours and still finding himself at the start of the game, leading him to feel like the title was “unbelievably bad.” he regretted his and Sony’s past decisions, expressing gratitude towards the game’s western publishers.

Yoshida noted that he and the rest of Sony do have “huge respect” for FromSoftware, believing Bloodborne to be one of Hidetaka Miyazaki’s best games. However, hearing information like this has made many gamers wonder why these studios haven’t done more together afterward. Despite Japan Studio’s closure, Sony still holds the rights to Bloodborne, leading many to assume that a rerelease of some sort would be a no-brainer, but it’s unclear what Sony intends to do with the property going forward. Some have taken the inclusion of Bloodborne along with a reference to “persistence” in PlayStation’s 30th-anniversary video as a sign that some kind of project may be underway, but others don’t have such high hopes. Regardless, it is clear that Sony and FromSoft’s standing has improved over the years.

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Demon’s Souls

Systems

Released

October 6, 2009

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Violence

Publisher(s)

Sony Computer Entertainment, Atlus, Namco Bandai