Elden Ring is undoubtedly one of the most ambitious video games released in quite some time, but all wasn’t always rainbows and butterflies in the offices of developer FromSoftware. The success of the Soulslike genre definitely owes a lot to the gaming visionary that the industry has been blessed with, Hidetaka Miyazaki, who trusted his creativity and the process to end up with a universally acclaimed result that’s being replicated by many other studios.
Many gamers are obviously familiar with beloved titles like Demon’s Souls and Bloodborne, but plenty of them don’t know the kind of dedication, effort, and belief that went into making them a wonderful reality.
Elden Ring Director Hidetaka Miyazaki Talks About the Humble Beginnings of the Soulslike Genre
In an interview with The Guardian, the creator of Elden Ring, Hidetaka Miyazaki, reminisced about the humble beginnings of the Soulslike genre, explaining that it didn’t start off as strongly as some people might think. FromSoftware was actually founded around 37 years ago by Naotoshi Zin, and Miyazaki only started working there as a coder almost two decades after its inception.
Surprisingly, Miyazaki was initially not even on the development team for Demon’s Souls, as his focus at the time was on the Armored Core series.
According to the Elden Ring director, the first game that was supposed to kick off the Soulslike genre wasn’t really “doing well” since the development on Demon’s Souls was riddled with “problems.” Before Hidetaka Miyazaki was put on the project, the developers were struggling to “create a compelling prototype,” so there were very little hopes of it turning out to be a success.
That didn’t faze Miyazaki one bit, though, because the moment he found out that “it was a fantasy-action role-playing game,” he couldn’t wait to take a chance and put his own spin on it.
For someone who claims that he “wasn’t ambitious,” the Elden Ring creator developed a whole new branch of video games as he took “control” of the Demon’s Souls situation and knew that he “could turn it into anything” he pleased. According to Hidetaka Miyazaki, the greatest aspect of the whole scenario was that if his “ideas failed, nobody would care,” especially considering the fact that the first Soulslike title was basically “a failure” from the beginning.
However, his belief paid off, and FromSoftware asserted its partial dominance in the gaming industry for years to come.
Hidetaka Miyazaki Made Drastic Changes to Demon’s Souls
Although the director of Elden Ring tried his absolute best to change the inevitable fate of Demon’s Souls, the game was released in Japan, and the reception was less than ideal. In fact, it was already panned by plenty of players at the Tokyo Game Show before it launched, and in the eyes of publisher Sony, it was a financial bomb as it sold only 20,000 units during the first week.
Of course, FromSoftware fans know that the horrible initial release was only the beginning, as the first Soulslike game was destined for much greater things.
The Elden Ring creator’s sheer resilience and trust in his development team and the Soulslike concept ensured that Demon’s Souls became kind of a cult classic as some time passed after its initial release. Gamers all across the globe gradually realized that this was going to be an incredibly fresh shift in the world of gaming, and without Hidetaka Miyazaki’s unfazed belief and creatively genius approach, gems like Bloodborne would never have been released.
From a highly problematic beginning to becoming the launch title for the PlayStation 5, Demon’s Souls became an unmatched force to be reckoned with.
Which Soulslike game is your favorite, and why? Let us know in the comments!
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