News thatElden Ring has sold over 30 million copiesmakes me happy. FromSoftware is no longer the underdog it once was, butElden Ringfinding resounding mainstream success after years of the developer remaining on the niche-er side of things is a success story that everyone should strive for.
With 30 million copies sold, Elden Ring is a behemoth of the industry, and while I’m certainly happy for the studio for hitting such a major milestone, what I’m most excited about is what’s to come now that Elden Ring has found its success.
There’s A Lot To Juggle
FromSoftware is spinning a handful of plates right now. We haveElden Ring Nightreignlaunching in just a few weeks,The Duskbloodscoming in 2026 exclusively to Nintendo Switch 2, plus a few other unannounced games that are in the works according to FromSoft CEO Hidetaka Miyazaki.
He told Game Watch last yearthat “there are multiple projects running and a variety of genres,” which has fans of the studio, myself included, absolutely buzzing to see what kind of genres it might be toying with.
Because Nightreign and The Duskbloods seemingly aren’tthe standard FromSoft single-player action-soulslike affair, there’s a lot of speculation about what else it’s working on, since Miyazaki makes it sound as though there are several things in development behind the scenes. It feels like a promise that FromSoft fans will be eating well for the next few years and its ability to greenlight multiple projects at once is a direct result of Elden Ring’s success.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen FromSoft work ontwo games at a timewith the studio splitting its focus allowing it to release games at a faster rate. Miyazaki’s statement, however, makes it sound like there are three or four games in production – the two that we know about and at least one more.
FromSoft Gets Experimental With Success
Something that excites FromSoftware fans about Elden Ring’s success isn’t just that more games are being greenlit, but how the studio uses the success of its previous games to make something completely unique. For example, following the success of Dark Souls, FromSoft juggled Dark Souls 2 which was a relatively straightforward followup to the original Dark Souls and Bloodborne, a game directed by Miyazaki that took much of the design language from Dark Souls and put a new spin on it to createone of the most beloved games of all time.
A similar thing happened after the success of Dark Souls 3. The final game in the Dark Souls trilogy sold exceptionally well and to follow it up,FromSoft made Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, a complete departure from the mechanics it established in Dark Souls and Bloodborne while still having that classic FromSoftware flair. Now that it’s able to ride the success of Elden Ring, I can’t wait to see what sorts of weird ideas FromSoft has in store next.
Elden Ring’s success shouldn’t be glossed over in the excitement of what’s to come. It is endlessly impressive that a studio like FromSoftware turned a niche game idea starting with Demon’s Souls into a title that can outsell Madden, Fifa, and Pokemon in its release year. I’m happy for FromSoftware, its success is deserved, but I’m also happy for me and the rest of the fans of the studio since it’s pretty clear that we’re going to be eating well for years to come.
