From Software made waves with their release of Elden Ring, their latest game that many acclaimed to be their best work yet, with over 12 million units sold worldwide. Hidetaka Miyazaki, From Software’s President, sat down for an interview with the Japanese video game website 4Gamer today, revealing his reactions to Elden Ring’s success and future projects well on their way into production. However, development for Elden Ring is not stopping, Miyazaki confirmed that fans can expect new updates for Elden Ring.
According to Miyazaki, Elden Ring’s success was quite a surprise, commenting on the game’s tricky development from the collaboration with George R.R Martian and struggling with implementing its open world. Regardless, Miyazaki stated that they were taking all the game’s positive and negative receptions into account for future projects. Continuing on Miyazaki commented on From Software’s future projects. Despite the high bar that Elden Ring has set for the gaming company, Miyazaki stated that superseding previous games is not what they set out to do, instead prioritizing what they want to create, even if an idea might be risky.
Miyazaki mentioned From Software’s next unnamed title, which is in the final stages of development, has a similar sense of scale as Elden Ring. He also mentioned several other titles currently in the works by others developers, due to the increasing numbers of developers within From Software. As for projects that Miyazaki will personally be a part of, he indicated that his next game will tackle a ideas not normally seen in games typical for the game developer, going for a more abstract approach to fantasy.
Outside of games, Miyazaki talked about the steps taken to improve the working environment and pay of employees within From Software. These include increasing bonuses and the salary of young to mid-career employees. There will also be the implementation of settlement bonuses that allow an additional bonus for employees when the company’s financial results are satisfactory. Miyazaki states that his love for game production pushes him to create an environment that emphasizes the “stimulation of collaboration.”