Hidetaka Miyazaki is inspired by Iwata and will not agree to layoffs at FromSoftware while he is at the helm

The situation in the video game industry is the worst in living memory, at least in terms of job stability. Studio closures and layoffs have become a constant over the last year, taking thousands of employees and developers to task. A dynamic that they do not intend to repeat in FromSoftware.

At least that’s what Hidetaka Miyazaki, president of the Japanese company, has made clear, who spoke with PC Gamer about the dramatic streak that video games are experiencing. We must start from the basis that FromSoftware is not really an independent studiobut belongs to Kadokawa Corporation – along with the distribution of shares for Sony and Tencent – but that condition will not be an impediment for the Japanese creative to protect his colleagues.

“Speaking for myself and this company, I want to say that this is not something I would wish for FromSoftware staff in a million years. I’m pretty sure our parent company, Kadokawa, understands this and shares that opinion,” Miyazaki has told the media. The truth is that the parents of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree have remained unaware of the layoffs and it is surely due, in part, to the vision that the director shares with the late Satoru Iwata.

“I think it was former Nintendo president Iwata who said that ‘people who are afraid of losing their jobs are afraid of doing good things.’ I’m paraphrasing him, but I totally agree with this opinion. I think it’s true. And I think the people at Kadokawa , our parent company, understands that I hold this opinion very strongly.

While we can’t say 100% (we can’t say with complete certainty what the future holds for From and Kadokawa), at least as long as this company is my responsibility, that’s something I wouldn’t allow to happen. “So I hope our players and our fans can have a little bit of reassurance about that.”

The words Miyazaki refers to take us back to 2013, specifically to a meeting with Nintendo shareholders, at which time the president of Nintendo made it clear that the company would not bet on cutting staff. “If we reduce the number of employees to obtain better economic results in the short term, their morale will drop, and honestly I doubt that workers afraid of being fired are capable of developing games that can impress people all over the world,” said Iwata in a plea in favor of stability among the squad.

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