Elden Ring creator and FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki said there will be no mass layoffs at the studio “as long as this company is my responsibility.”
In an interview with PC Gamer, Miyazaki discussed layoffs across the gaming industry, particularly the number of studios closed under Embracer.
“Speaking to myself and this company, I want to say that this is not something I would wish on FromSoftware employees in a million years,” Miyazaki said. “I’m pretty sure that our parent company, Kadokawa, understands and shares this view.
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Miyazaki compared his view to that of late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, who famously took pay cuts to avoid layoffs.
“I think it was the old former president of Nintendo Iwata-san who said that ‘people who are afraid of losing their jobs are afraid of doing good things’. I’m paraphrasing, but I totally share that opinion,” Miyazaki said.
“I think that’s true. And I think the people at Kadokawa, our parent company, understand that I hold this view very strongly. While we can’t say 100% – we can’t say with absolute certainty what the future holds for From and Kadokawa – at least as long as this company is my responsibility, that’s something I wouldn’t allow to happen, so hopefully our players and our fans can take some reassurance from that.”
Elsewhere, in an interview with Gamespot, Miyazaki discussed the studio’s evolving identity and player trust in the studio, describing FromSoftware’s next chapter as coming down to “value and how we create that value.”
Of course, the company has new directors and designers who may have different specific ideas than Miyazaki, so he didn’t want to say too much.
“But if you look at it more broadly, I think it’s all about creating and delivering that value to the players and being able to do that 100 percent,” he said. “So make sure the environment is conducive to that type of thinking and [creating] for me, the way to achieve that is what I think and feel about the future of the company as president. So it’s actually a very simple company, I would say.
“I think in the near future, the way the fans have responded to our games and I dare say the level of trust they’ve put in us as a brand has given us the opportunity to show different types of values ​​that So I think right now our task not to betray that trust and expectation.”
This trust in the brand has certainly increased the sales of Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon. “I’m very grateful for the fans who have responded and embraced the trust we’ve built together,” Miyazaki said. “So I understand that Armored Core has never been a big franchise embraced by many players, but seeing the current state of the franchise, I think we know we’re on the right track. And I think the same can be said for me.” as society as a whole.”
Still, on an individual level, “the sense of overcoming challenges and the setting of a dark fantasy world is something I’ll always have,” Miyazaki said, even as the company evolves.
Indeed, in a previous interview, Miyazaki stated that he had yet to make his “ideal fantasy RPG”.
Mass layoffs have affected a large part of the gaming industry, with more than 10,000 so far in 2024. Japanese studios have nevertheless avoided such measures: Capcom, for example, this year announced a salary increase for all employees.
The Elden Ring DLC ​​Shadow of the Erdtree releases this week on June 21st for PC, Xbox and PlayStation consoles.