Hidetaka Miyazaki, the visionary president of FromSoftware and the creative force behind iconic games like Dark Souls and Elden Ring, has offered a fascinating glimpse into the studio’s future plans. While recent releases like Elden Ring: Nightreign and The Duskbloods have ventured into multiplayer territory, Miyazaki suggests that FromSoftware is eager to return to its roots – crafting compelling single-player experiences.
A Coincidental Multiplayer Push
Hidetaka Miyazaki, speaking to IGN, explained that the simultaneous release of Elden Ring: Nightreign and The Duskbloods as multiplayer titles was largely a coincidence. “It’s funny because there was never really any big plan that these two games [Nightreign and The Duskbloods] would both release next to each other,” he stated. He emphasized that while the studio is exploring new avenues, single-player content remains a core focus.
“I mean, that’s a different director,” Miyazaki added, referring to Junya Ishizaki who helmed Nightreign, “but both of those ideas just coincided with being multiplayer games. It’s not necessarily some big reveal saying that this is the direction we plan to go moving forward. We still have a heavy focus on single-player content as well. This is just something that happened to work out the way it did.”
Miyazaki further elaborated, “But it’s like, the more you work on something multiplayer for a long time, if anything, it scratches that itch only to want to make something single-player again.” This sentiment underscores the cyclical nature of game development and the creative drive to explore different gameplay styles.
The Legacy of Elden Ring
FromSoftware’s last major single-player offering was 2022’s critically acclaimed Elden Ring, which, while incorporating traditional multiplayer elements like co-op and invasions, largely focused on a solo experience. However, Nightreign and The Duskbloods are pushing the boundaries of multiplayer in a more actively competitive PvPvE environment.
Indeed, it appears that The Duskbloods represents something of an anomaly for FromSoftware, with Miyazaki describing it as an outlet for ideas that “didn’t really fit in the context of a single-player game.”
A Nintendo Partnership
“Over time,” he said, “a lot of those ideas piled up, things that you wish you could have done here and there. Having an outlet for them, somewhere we can find a place where they all fit, or can be made to fit specifically in that multiplayer context, is something that was always at the forefront of my mind.”
The Duskbloods is a Switch 2 exclusive developed in partnership with Nintendo. Miyazaki explained that this collaboration arose from Nintendo’s “very excited and very receptive” attitude towards the game, as well as their “forward thinking” approach to its development. Nintendo’s influence can be felt in the game, particularly in how it aims to ease players into the experience.
“The onboarding tutorials and making sure players understand how the game works and how to succeed in the game is something we’ve historically not been super great at conveying instantly,” Miyazaki said. “We’ve definitely just dropped players in and hoped they would figure it out. In this case, Nintendo is definitely the right partner for better conveying that information in a way that is understandable to the player; it definitely suits their strengths.”
The Road Ahead
This weekend’s The Duskbloods network test runs in five phases, one each day from August 21st (Friday) through to August 24th (Monday). While the full game currently lacks a release date, despite a September 24th date appearing briefly today, FromSoftware has previously committed to it coming out this year. The burning question now is: how close to GTA 6‘s November 19th release will it dare to launch?
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