FromSoftware’s Dark Souls series has been a fan-favorite for many years now. Without a doubt, the games played a key role in popularising the Soulslike genre among a wider audience. It began with 2011’s Dark Souls, which was well-received by the fans and its success led to the creation of 2014’s Dark Souls 2. Many argue that DS2 was neglected by the series’ creator Hidetaka Miyazaki as he was more focused on 2015’s Bloodborne. With Dark Souls 3, Miyazaki returned as the director and once again gave fans one of the best Soulslike games of all time.
After DS3, Miyazaki made it clear that he was done with the series, adding that it wouldn’t make sense to continue creating not just the Dark Souls series but also the Bloodborne franchise. However, Miyazaki wouldn’t oppose the idea of a sequel if someone else is interested in creating it.
Hidetaka Miyazaki confirms that the Dark Souls franchise could expand in the future but without him
In 2016, FromSoftware’s president Hidetaka Miyazaki was asked about the future of the Dark Souls series in an interview with DualShockers. On multiple occasions, Miyazaki has made it clear that he is done with the Dark Souls series but in this interview, he revealed that he wouldn’t stop other developers at FromSoftware from working on the sequel,
“Personally, I don’t feel like creating new Souls games, however, I don’t want to completely deny the potential of other developers from From Software bringing back the Dark Souls franchise in the future – While I’d personally like to end the Dark Souls franchise, I’d still feel sad doing so. While I might not work on Dark Souls games myself, I would bring some of the good things from them, like in-game elements or product development experience to new Dark Souls-like games or franchises in the future.”
Miyazaki explained that he would love to carry on the elements of the Dark Souls series to any dark fantasy-like games he would create and he indeed implemented some elements in games like Elden Ring and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
Hidetaka Miyazaki is more interested in creating a new series
Further in the interview, Miyazaki was asked to comment on many Japanese gaming companies producing repetitive video games every year. While not commenting on other publishers and developers, Miyazaki explained what they focus on at FromSoftware,
“From Software believes that all the things that we have learned in past titles can be best reflected in future titles only by working on new franchises and new series.”
Another Dark Souls sequel would restrict Miyazaki from creating new video games with fresh world-building and storylines. His last game, Elden Ring, is getting an expansion called Shadow of the Erdtree is all set to be released in June 2024.
