Hidetaka Miyazaki, the acclaimed director behind Elden Ring and the Souls series, has revealed that he "gets his hands dirty" in helping grow and nurture the younger talents at FromSoftware.
Elden Ring Creator May Never Stop Making Games
Miyazaki is a Hands-On Developer Through and Through
In a recent interview with The Guardian, FromSoftware president and Elden Ring creator Hidetaka Miyazaki shared insights into his daily life at FromSoftware, sharing that the corporate executive life isn’t where his true interests lie. "I enjoy helping grow and nurture the younger directors whom I see guiding the company in the next stage. But sitting in a management office all day isn’t my style," he said. Miyazaki exhibits a rather hands-on approach, saying, "I really get my hands dirty and continue to make games together, through which I hope I can communicate my process to a different generation of talent."
Despite holding the title of president for nearly a decade, Miyazaki estimated that about 95% of his time at the company is dedicated to directing and developing games. "Using that ratio, you could say I only actually have about six months’ experience as an executive!" he humorously remarked.
FromSoftware’s games are regarded as highly challenging and technical, which has sparked ongoing discussions among the gaming community about difficulty and accessibility in modern gaming. Miyazaki addressed this topic, particularly in relation to the recent Elden Ring expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, which proved to carry the studio's DNA.
"Instead of the very grim, dark fantasy that you may be used to from past FromSoftware games … it still has that same harshness and coldness, but we wanted to have these moments of beauty," he explained. Miyazaki noted that while the games remain tough, there are elements that offer players a chance to "come up for air."
Elden Ring Gives a Sense of Hope
Reflecting on the universal appeal of the themes in FromSoftware’s games, Miyazaki said, "A lot of FromSoftware games throw players into this barren wasteland, and it’s a very severe, harsh, cold experience …" which he said the real world has almost become parallel to nowadays. He elaborated that Elden Ring's harsh settings and the theme of persistence resonate deeply with his worldview of overcoming difficulty.
Miyazaki elaborated, "These past few years have been a huge exception to the rule in terms of what’s happening around us. But even before that, I have always felt that the world was quite a harsh place. I’ve always lived my life with that worldview, those values. So this idea of being thrust into a wasteland and planting the seeds of growth is something that, for me, feels almost universal. Perhaps more people are discovering that right now."
