From Software has always been a prolific studio. Even before the team hit it big with the genre-defining Demon’s Souls, it was known for making the Armored Core games and Otogi. In 2018, the developers have stayed busy by dipping their toes into VR and working on two re-releases of their biggest titles from the past. They’re also working on Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, a Souls-ish action game in conjunction with Activision. Is there any more room on the studio’s plate? Apparently so, if company president Hidetaka Miyazaki is to be believed.
In an interview with Japanese outlet 4Gamer, Miyazaki confirmed that the studio had two additional projects in the works in addition to everything else. With VR adventure Deracine already out and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice seeing release in March, it would make sense that the studio has several other games at different stages in the development cycle. Miyazaki describes them as “From Software-esque,” but leaves any other details up to the imagination. Whether that means that it’s a game in an existing franchise or just something that plays like their older games is also up in the air.
Since From Software seems to be side-stepping some of the studio’s established conventions with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, perhaps the team’s upcoming games will follow suit. It’s been a good long while since an Armored Core game graced our shores, and the series could use the kind of reboot that Monster Hunter got at the beginning of 2018. Whatever the team chooses to make, the longevity of the company has come from changing up the games it produces often.
While it’s impossible to say for sure, we probably haven’t seen the end of Dark Souls as a series. Still, it will be nice to get a break at the beginning of the next generation. I’m sure From Software fans will have plenty of similar fare to tide them over until they return to the depths of difficulty those games provide.
