After releasing PlayStation VR exclusive game Déraciné last year, acclaimed Japanese developer From Software, developers of the Souls games, Bloodbourne, and Sekiro: Shadow Die Twice, appears to think VR headsets still need a bit more development. In an interview with Destructoid at E3, From Software producer Masanori Takeuchi stated that the studio has no plans to dive back into the virtual reality space until the technology has gotten better.
In the interview, Takeuchi elaborated with, “It’s because when we did Déraciné, the hardware was actually a little more limiting than we expected. We couldn’t quite render and depict the things we wanted to using PSVR – just the hardware and the know-how we had at the time. So perhaps we’ll wait a little bit and see what happens with the PS5 or the next-gen hardware, and then see what sort of performance we can get from that, what we can render on that hardware, and then make a decision.”
Takeuchi delved into how the studio had to focus on how certain aspects of VR such as possible motion sickness and poor frame rates to make the experience as comfortable as possible for players. Thus, the studio couldn’t put all their focus on the design of the game itself. This would appear to make some sense as Déraciné currently sits at a 68 on Metacritic, the lowest score for a From Software game.
Takeuchi did state that the studio has some ideas for for future VR titles. However, the studio came to the consensus that they would “rather wait until we can raise the barrier of the FPS and the resolution and have that be a comfortable experience where we can have the player engage with what we want to make.”
From Software is currently working on the recently announced Elden Ring, new action RPG made in collaboration with author George R. R. Martin. The studio has also found success with their most recent release, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, which sold over two million copies in its first ten days on sale.