FromSoftware Historical Success
The company was founded in 1986 in Tokyo, Japan, by Naotoshi Zin. Interestingly, FromSoftware did not begin as a video game studio. Instead, it originally created business and productivity software. However, as the video game industry rapidly expanded in the early 1990s, the company decided to shift its focus toward game development.
Founded in Tokyo on November 1, 1986, by Naotoshi Zin, FromSoftware originally began as a developer of business applications before shifting focus to video games. 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. 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
- Their first video game was King’s Field, released in 1994 for the Sony PlayStation. This game introduced many elements that would later become part of the company’s identity: dark fantasy settings, challenging gameplay, and immersive world design.
- To commemorate their 20th anniversary, FromSoftware released the special collection package called the King’s Field Dark Side Box in 2007, which contained a reissue of the four King’s Field games, which had previously been released on the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, as well as soundtracks for all six games, a map of Verdite, and other bonuses.
- King’s Field IV (released in North America as King’s Field: The Ancient City) was the first game from the series released on the PlayStation 2 console. The game takes place in the Land of Disaster, where the forest folk once dwelt until an evil curse befell the land. The player takes the role of Prince Devian of the Azalin Empire, who has been tasked with returning the Idol of Sorrow, the cause of the blight, to the cursed land.
In 1997, FromSoftware released Armored Core, a mech combat game that became one of the company’s longest-running franchises. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the studio experimented with different genres and platforms, releasing games such as Echo Night and Shadow Tower. While these games helped the company build a loyal fanbase, FromSoftware was still relatively unknown worldwide.
Game Award Winners
The success of Demon’s Souls led to the release of Dark Souls in 2011. This game became a global phenomenon and helped define the “Soulslike” genre, influencing many other developers across the industry.
In the years that followed, FromSoftware continued to grow with critically acclaimed titles such as Bloodborne, Dark Souls III, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, which even won Game of the Year in 2019.