Director

The more time I spend working on 'Sekiro,' the deeper I sink into this zone of blood and gore and conflict. But if I want to get out of it, I can walk over to the other side of the studio and ease myself into a completely different feeling when I work on 'Deracine.'

From Software believes all the things we have learned in the past titles can be best reflected in the future only by starting work on a new franchise or series. That's the philosophy behind us trying to make a decision about leaving the 'Dark Souls' franchise.

The construction of 'Sekiro''s world is based on that of traditional Sengoku, or medieval Japan. To that end, we made sure to reference a lot of written materials on that period as well as actually visit several locations.

I've observed some surprise in the reactions so far from people who were not aware that FromSoftware does other things besides 'Souls.' This serves as a reminder to me that we have an established reputation - and that we should work on different games so we can be more flexible and build a broader profile.

I've been familiar with western fantasy novels since I was a boy.

'Deracine' is French for uprooting, or someone who's been displaced from their natural environment.

A shinobi embodies an archetype that is able to use everything at their disposal. They don't pick a fighting style; they use every means and everything they can get their hands on. They exploit every weakness.

I, as a gamer, understand passion to discuss favourite games.

I would like 'Dark Souls' to be a broad exploration game filled with so many veiled things and details.

To be honest, I'm really not interested on how I'm viewed as. The only thing I'm interested in is to keep creating something special. Whether that something is synonymous to me or not is really none of my concern.

Now I'm president. I get to meet a lot of other company presidents. They're such weird people. I'm fascinated by them. I use some of them as enemy characters in our games.

One of my favourite Japanese cartoons is 'Yasuragi no Yakata,' written by the famous Fujiko Fujio.

The intention behind the high difficulty of the games I direct is to evoke a feeling of joy and accomplishment in the player when they overcome these challenges.

'Deracine' is French for uprooting, or someone who's been displaced from their natural environment.

I enjoy the process of adding elaboration into games and like to communicate with users through the details I create.

There was a board game called 'Sorcery,' which is one of my favorites, and I would often revisit the game. It's not a video game, but it definitely stands out in my mind as a game that impacted me.

We do need this diversity in the industry. Regardless of what From Software is doing, we need people making battle royale games and live services, and we need people making single-player focused experiences. We feel that this diversity is what will keep everyone going.

I believe that From Software has to create new things. There will be new types of games coming from us, and 'Dark Souls 3' is an important marker in the evolution of From Software.

I really like 'Metal Wolf Chaos,' but it's not my title.

'Gears Of War' is one of my favourite games that I immersed myself in playing for long time, and Mr. Cliff Bleszinski is one of the greatest game creators that I respect.