Dark Souls is one of the more popular series over the last two console generations. Between Demon’s Souls, the two Dark Souls games (plus Scholar of the First Sin) and the offshoot Bloodborne, there’s a lot of love going around for the series. However, in recent interviews Hidetaka Miyazaki, President of From Software and creator of the Dark Souls games has stated that the upcoming Dark Souls 3 may be the final chapter in the long-running series. Let’s take a look at why this may or may not be the case.
Miyazaki included Bloodborne when he mentioned that From Software may be moving on from the series. The creator of the series feels that the company needs to create new things and that Dark Souls 3 could be the big closure to the series. Nothing has been confirmed, but it seems a bit premature to close out From Software’s biggest series of the past few years.
The success of the PlayStation-exclusive Bloodborne should be enough to warrant a potential follow-up. While Dark Souls 3 may be the last entry in the main series, it seems odd that Miyazaki would leave Sony with just one Bloodborne title and no sequel. With that said, Sony’s own SCE Japan Studio assisted with the creation of Bloodborne, which was developed at the same time as Dark Souls 2. It wouldn’t be out of the question for SCE Japan Studio to take over the reins and develop a Bloodborne sequel with little to no input from Miyazaki and From Software.
Even if SCE Japan Studio taking over the Bloodborne series isn’t an option, you have to look at what From Software has been working on these past few years. The company made a 3DS Monster Hunter game, but other than that it’s been all Bloodborne and Dark Souls since Armored Core: Verdict Day back in 2013. It’s entirely possible a new Armored Core could be coming, or From Software has a new game in the works, but it doesn’t seem as though the company has a lot going on outside of the Dark Souls series of games.
While Dark Souls 3 could potentially be the final game in the main series, we expect another Bloodborne to release for the PlayStation 4 at some point in the future. Beyond that, it’s likely From Software will move on to other projects, but with the success of Dark Souls, don’t count the title out. Even if Miyazaki claims the company is moving on to new projects, they know Dark Souls is a near-guaranteed hit. In the current economic climate (especially when the games industry is concerned), a sure hit is much easier to green light than a new intellectual property that could be a far more investment risky.
Dark Souls 3 is currently set to release in Japan on March 24, 2016, with a US release date shortly after on April 12, 2016. Stay tuned to Prima games as we’ll have a complete walkthrough and guide for the game, but in the meantime you can check out our articles covering everything we know about Dark Souls 3, how to be good at Dark Souls 3 and how Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3 are similar.
