Miyazaki ‘spends 95% of his time directing games’, despite FromSoftware president title

videogameschronicle.com:

Hidetaka Miyazaki has claimed that he spends the vast majority of his day to day work directing games, despite his status as the president of FromSoftware.

Speaking to The Guardian, the Elden Ring director, who was promoted to the president of FromSoftware due to the breakout success of his Souls series, has said that the corporate executive life isn’t his passion.

“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 told The Guardian.

“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.

“I have had the title of president for almost 10 years now, but I would say about 95% of what I do at the company and how I spend my time is directed towards making games and directing games. Using that ratio, you could say I only actually have about six months’ experience as an executive!”

Miyazaki first came to prominence as the director of Demons Souls, an RPG published by Atlus in the west, which birthed the Souls series.

While the game’s initial launch was muted, it would eventually become lauded as a cult hit, and over a decade later would receive a remake on PlayStation 5, developed by Sony‘s Bluepoint.

In the same interview, Miyazaki spoke about the notorious difficulty of the Souls series. 

FromSoftware’s latest game, Elden Ring, received its first and only expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree this week.

VGC’s Shadow of the Erdtree review called it a “sequel-sized sensation.”

“Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree is an incredible expansion and a worthy follow-up to the generation’s best game. In some ways, it’s better than the original by providing an experience that’s both tighter, but also more than double the length we expected.”