Dark Souls III‘s Ringed City DLC released today, but with its arrival comes equal parts joy and sadness. On one hand, more Dark Souls content is always a good thing, but knowing that this particular add-on is to be the last fans will get to experience for a very long time – or potentially ever – is a sad realization indeed. Series creator and director Hidetaka Miyazaki has stated numerous times in the past that Dark Souls III would be an end to the property, at least for the foreseeable future, with both himself and developer From Software preferring instead to move onto new projects.
Judging by a recent interview with Weekly Famitsu (thanks, Gematsu), it appears as if Miyazaki’s stance hasn’t changed, either. “As I’ve said from the beginning, there are no further developments planned at the moment, at least,” he said when asked if the release of Ringed City meant an end to the series, adding that, despite it having “its own problems…Dark Souls was a happy series” overall.
With the final chapter in such a successful period of From Software’s history now concluded, attention will begin to turn toward whatever it is the studio plans to do next. Miyazaki has stated previously that it has several projects in the works, but since that time, no official announcements have been made. At present, that situation appears to be no different, but Miyazaki does say that while From Software’s stance on game production “has not changed,” the developer isn’t “being conscious of making something that resembles Dark Souls, or on the other hand of making something that doesn’t resemble Dark Souls.”
In a day and age where many big name developers are content with delivering an endless chain of sequels with only mild changes made to an existing formula, it’s refreshing to see that neither Miyazaki or From Software wants to fall into a pattern of churning out an endless number of sequels to the Dark Souls series.
Of course, there’s every chance that its first title post-Dark Souls III will include similar elements that popularized that series, but we’ll have to wait and see for an official announcement on that front.