Even with some negative accounts, other FromSoftware employees said working at the studio has been a great experience. One employee even likened it to FromSoftware’s own Dark Souls, saying, “There’s a lot of struggle to get things right, but if you get over the hump it is very satisfying. It’s just like you defeated a boss in Dark Souls.”
I’m not sure if we should be approaching work like Dark Souls.
I wouldn’t be surprised, but you also get those claims with a lot of Western developers as well. The only difference I’m seeing is how much more reputation is valued as opposed to something that can be sold off to the highest bidder.
I’d say it’s more because they’ve established a reputation and they’ve kept it up, which is were Japanese culture really shines. Compare it to, say, Blizzard, which cashed out and pissed its reputation away mostly. Sure, Japanese companies will try to cash out sometimes, but if there’s the possibility of them losing their reputation because of it, they will back off even at a loss and try to make up for it. Do not confuse with South Korean companies, by the way.
It’s also a Japanese company with Japanese work ethic.
There were already some rumors about bad working conditions during the Dark Souls titles, now more with Elden Ring: https://www.ign.com/articles/elden-ring-developers-compare-working-at-fromsoftware-to-playing-dark-souls
I’m not sure if we should be approaching work like Dark Souls.
I wouldn’t be surprised, but you also get those claims with a lot of Western developers as well. The only difference I’m seeing is how much more reputation is valued as opposed to something that can be sold off to the highest bidder.
I’d say it’s more because they’ve established a reputation and they’ve kept it up, which is were Japanese culture really shines. Compare it to, say, Blizzard, which cashed out and pissed its reputation away mostly. Sure, Japanese companies will try to cash out sometimes, but if there’s the possibility of them losing their reputation because of it, they will back off even at a loss and try to make up for it. Do not confuse with South Korean companies, by the way.