FromSoftware is one of the most reliable studios in the gaming world today. Not only does it manage to deliver critical banger after banger, but it also makes games pretty quickly, too. Less than a year after Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon, we have the Elden Ring expansion to enjoy.
With the reputation that FromSoftware has built up over the years, you might think that there's a lot of pressure to keep producing hits. But, according to the president Hidetaka Miyazaki, each release is treated as its own thing, without worrying about similar acclaim to what came before.
"Elden Ring was in a league of its own in terms of the success and critical acclaim that it has seen, but what we try to do as a company is never assume that will happen again with our future games," Miyazaki said (via The Guardian.) "No decision is based on any assumption that, hey, we did it once, it's going to happen again. Allowing for this rather conservative forecast gives us room to fail - and that in turn results in better games and better decisions. In a roundabout way, I think that assumption of not making another hit, that conservative outlook, is fuelling and aiding our game design."
FromSoftware has once again earned heaps of critical praise with Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, but fans have actually found the expansion to be too difficult when it comes to the boss encounters.