In an interview with 4Gamer.net, Elden Ring director and president of From Software, Hidetaka Miyazaki, revealed some information about the studio’s next project and even left some room for the possibility of an Elden Ring sequel. Translations of the interview are courtesy of Google translate, so please forgive if they are a little rough.
Regarding the next From Software project, 4Gamer inquired about three games that were in the pipeline when Sekiro was in development. At the time, two of the titles were unknown to the public, with one ending up being this year’s smash hit Elden Ring. As for the other, we seemingly don’t have to wait too long to see what it is. When asked whether that other game was still in development, Miyazaki responded, “Yes. Development is in its final stages.”
Miyazaki doesn’t show his cards on what the game may be, but rumblings in the industry point towards a resurgence of another From Software franchise, Armored Core. Trading the steel of medieval armor for the steel plating of a high-tech mecha would be a refreshing change of pace for the studio after its run of magic and melee-centric Souls titles. It will also be interesting to see if the long-running robot series will take any design philosophies from its From Soft sister series. Whether the Armored Core rumors turn out to be true will hopefully be revealed in the near future.
From Software’s staff is growing in size, making the scope and scale of Elden Ring possible with the available manpower. With more developers on hand, Miyazaki says multiple projects are in the works at From Software from various directors.
“I was able to create a title with a sense of scale of Elden Ring because of the growth of human resources in the company, but from now on, I think we will often leave the project to them. In fact, there are several titles directed by people other than me, and it’s time to increase the number of developers.”
Elden Ring was also a big topic in the interview, with Miyazaki confirming updates will continue to roll out for the game, but bigger content updates like DLC are not mentioned. Although, he does leave the door open for a sequel of some kind. When 4Gamer states an Elden Ring 2 would sell very well, but From Software has been shying away from sequels these days, Miyazaki responds, “It’s a case-by-case basis. There are merits to both taking over the numbering and creating a new work with a new title, so I would like to select as appropriate.”