The Origin Of Dark Souls
FromSoftware's games are notoriously brutal. While not all of their games have this kind of data available, we know that at the height of its popularity, Dark Souls 2 killed forty-two player characters every second. While for many players that level of difficulty is a reason to stay far away, FromSoftware diehards see the ability to effortlessly slay gaming's toughest bosses as the ultimate badge of honor.
Related: Elden Ring: How Does New Game Plus Work?
For all the success of their recent titles like Elden Ring, you might be surprised to learn that FromSoftware's unique dark fantasy style was originally considered a failure before it even launched. Let's take a look at how the Souls series' fortunes reversed.
FromSoftware didn't actually make games for the first eight years it was in business. Originally incorporated in 1986, the company initially developed office productivity software. It wasn't until 1994 that they moved into the gaming space, developing a hack-and-slash title for the PS1 called King's Field. The game's difficulty earned it a cult following, and FromSoftware began to focus further on the new direction they had taken.
Related: The Most Convoluted Side Quests In Elden Ring
While many of FromSoftware's titles stuck to fantasy settings, the first series to gain traction on a larger scale was Armored Core. This mecha series saw twenty-three titles between 1997 and 2013, forming a foundation of FromSoftware's business until the unexpected success of Demon's Souls.
Hidetaka Miyazaki joined FromSoftware in 2004, writing code for Armored Core games. As he told the Guardian, he had decided to change careers at twenty-nine and FromSoftware was one of the few companies that would take a new employee with his
Read more on thegamer.com
