What Could Miyazaki Be Working on Now?

Hidetaka Miyazaki, primarily known as the mastermind behind the Souls franchise, is moving on. At least, that’s what people have assumed as the irrefutably brutal series has seemingly come to an end. But for many, the question is what will Miyazaki and his team at From Software work on next?

Before receiving any concrete conformation, there has been speculation of whether Miyazaki will go back to the Armored Core series, originally conceptualized in 1997. And it appears that this pondering has been met with actual confirmation — straight from the horse’s mouth.

In an interview with IGN at Tokyo Game Show last year, Miyazaki delved further into what life after Dark Souls would be like, alluding to a few titles that are being worked on. One of these is a new Armored Core game. While not going into much detail, Miyazaki simply stated, “Yeah, we’re already working on Armored Core.”

In the same interview, a couple of new IPs were hinted at, but at this stage, Miyazaki was not ready to talk about the ins and outs of these titles:

“So there are several titles that we are currently working on […] Some of those are dark fantasy, some of those could be a mech [game] – that’s one thing. The second thing is that one of the new titles I’ve been working on will probably comply with the expectations from the fans in straightforward manner.

“The last thing is that another title will probably be a little bit weird. When we actually announce the title, probably fans will react with ‘oh, what the hell is this very weird game that Miyazaki has created?’”

What that last game could be is quite literally anyone’s guess. However, what these words definitely confirm is that new content for Dark Souls, or even Bloodborne for that matter, is not in the pipeline. Due to the recent release of “The Ringed City” in Dark Souls III, the Souls series has been a hot topic in the industry this week. So Miyazaki took to Twitter to reaffirm previous statements — that were then generously translated by user BlackKite.

Thanks to the various Tweets and interviews that have been conducted, Miyazaki’s plan for the future looks to be a busy, yet intriguing one. When series such as the Souls series make such a great impact among gamers, it can be difficult for us as fans to let go. It can also be difficult for developers to completely pull themselves away when moving to a different project.

While Armored Core has already created its own identity through past titles, it is worth speculating whether Miyazaki’s more recent work will influence titles that are to come. With Deck13’s Lords of the Fallen, which was heavily inspired by the Souls series, it wouldn’t be so far-fetched to say that From Software’s next slew of games will still retain some of the charm created through this series.

Hardcore Souls fans are undyingly loyal to the franchise, so many will be eagerly waiting in anticipation for what From Software can come up with next.

What do you think Miyazaki will pull out of the bag first? Sound off in the comments!