Even Elden Ring's director doesn't know why the game is so successful
"It’s true that sales were higher than those of our previous games, but I have no idea what the reason was."
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Elden Ring has obviously been a massive success, but director and Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki doesn't really know why.
It's very hard to argue that Elden Ring has been anything other than a huge success. Whether it's the 16.6 million copies that were sold worldwide, or the widespread critical acclaim, this one has been a bit of a belter for developer FromSoftware. But what are the reasons behind the game's achievements? According to Miyazaki himself, he has "no idea what the reason was."
Earlier in the week, Elden Ring won the Grand Award at the PlayStation Partner Awards 2022 Japan Asia, held in Tokyo, an award given to the two games developed within Asia that had the highest number of sales, Genshin Impact being the other recipient. Following the event, Miyazaki took part in an interview, where he was asked for his thoughts on why the game has done so well (thanks, IGN).
"Honestly, I haven't analysed it much," Miyazaki responded. "It’s true that sales were higher than those of our previous games, but I have no idea what the reason was. So even if I wanted to reproduce that success, I wouldn’t be able to." The game maker noted that he plans to continue making games "the same way as before," without Elden Ring's success acting as a distraction.
"I try not to think about it too much, because I think it would be a bad idea to analyse it deeply and to consciously try to replicate it in another game."
Unsurprisingly, Elden Ring is up for game of the year, alongside a suit of other nominations, at this year's The Game Awards, so we'll have to wait just a few days to see if the game will continue its successes (Important disclosure: Nominees are selected by a global jury of more than 100 media publications and influencer outlets – and that includes us here at VG247).