FromSoftware, Inc. is a Japanese video game development and publishing company. It was founded by Naotoshi Zin in Tokyo on November 1, 1986. Initially a developer of business software, the company released their first video game, King's Field, for the PlayStation in 1994. Its success shifted FromSoftware to focus fully on games, with them producing two more King's Field games before creating the mecha combat series Armored Core (1997), one of their flagship franchises.
Hidetaka Miyazaki, creator of the Dark Souls series, has served as FromSoftware's representative director and president since 2014, with Zin remaining as an advisor. Miyazaki directs and designs the majority of the company's games in addition to his executive duties. FromSoftware is owned primarily by Kadokawa Corporation, with minority stakes by Tencent subsidiary Sixjoy Hong Kong and Sony Interactive Entertainment. FromSoftware usually self-publishes in Japan and partners with companies such as Agetec, Sony, and Bandai Namco Entertainment to publish internationally.
History
Hidetaka Miyazaki, company president and director of several of their games
FromSoftware was founded in Tokyo by Naotoshi Zin on November 1, 1986, as a developer of business applications.[1] The company released its first game, King's Field, for the PlayStation in 1994. Despite its commercial success in Japan, the game was not released in other regions, although 1995's King's Field II was released in both North America and Europe in 1996.[2] After releasing King's Field III in 1996, FromSoftware went on to release the horror game Echo Night and the 1998 role-playing game Shadow Tower. In 1997, FromSoftware released Armored Core, the first release in their flagship Armored Core series of mecha combat games.[3]
FromSoftware underwent a stock split in 2008 before achieving breakout success in the 2010s,[4] spurred by the release of Demon's Souls (2009) and Dark Souls (2011), the latter being the first entry in a trilogy whose success led to the creation of a subgenre of action role-playing games known as Soulslikes.[5] These include Dark Souls II (2014),[6]Bloodborne (2015),[7][8]Dark Souls III (2016),[9]Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019),[10][11] and Elden Ring (2022),[12][13][14] which have all received several awards and are often listed among the greatest video games of all time.[15][16][17][18]
In April 2014, Kadokawa Corporation announced its intention to purchase the company from former shareholder Transcosmos.[19] Following other restructuring, Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki would be promoted to company president the following month and later given the title of representative director.[20]
In January 2016, FromSoftware established a studio in Fukuoka that focuses on creating computer-generated imagery (CGI) assets for their games.[21][22] In August 2022, Sixjoy Hong Kong (a subsidiary of Tencent) and Sony Interactive Entertainment respectively acquired 16.25% and 14.09% of FromSoftware, leaving 69.66% to Kadokawa.[23] A report published by GamesIndustry.biz in November 2022 said that FromSoftware paid their employees at sub-standard rates.[24] The company had 397 employees as of June 2023[update].[25]
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