Sony doubles down on game development "collaborations" after investing in Elden Ring studio FromSoftware

PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst commented on Sony's recent investment in Elden Ring and Dark Souls developer FromSoftware, highlighting potential "collaborations on the game development side."

"You should think of collaborations on the game development side first and foremost," Hulst told Reuters, "but it's also not unthinkable with our PlayStation Productions efforts that we explore opportunities." 

PlayStation Productions is the in-house multimedia arm which Sony established in 2019 to helm film and TV adaptations of its video game franchises. Naturally, the studio has thus far dealt exclusively in IP that Sony owns, recently spinning off a Horizon Zero Dawn TV show for Netflix and a God of War TV show on Amazon. 

Sony has only acquired a minority stake in FromSoftware (roughly 14%, hot on the heels of Tencent's 16%), meaning the studio's IP are still squarely under FromSoft parent Kadokawa. If PlayStation Productions does end up pursuing something like a Dark Souls movie or Elden Ring TV show, they'd be among the studio's first third-party efforts. 

The fact these projects are even on the table speaks to the connection between Sony and FromSoftware, and this same connection also colors Hulst's comments on the game development side of this investment. 

We've already seen Demon's Souls for PS3, Bloodborne for PS4, and the Demon's Souls Remake for PS5, and all of those exclusives came before Sony formally added to its chunk of FromSoftware. Hulst's comments on the deal are vague, but they do leave the door open for another potential PlayStation-exclusive FromSoftware game or collaboration.  

FromSoftware has put all hands on deck for Elden Ring, easily its best-selling game yet, but it also has multiple games in active development. Elden Ring director and studio president Hidetaka Miyazaki is already leading a new game, and FromSoftware seems to have a separate game in its "final stages." 

In the same interview, Hulst affirmed that PlayStation is continuing its push into mobile and PC games and eyeing "further investments" in this space.