Project Dark | "DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!"

I figured as much, but waiting for confirmation before rambling on and over-speculating is usually a really good idea. From Software has indeed been toiling away on a follow up to Demon’s Souls, the huge hit for the developer that featured some truly hardcore difficulty as well as an innovative online mode. According to Japanese games magazine Famitsu, the upcoming RPG Dark Souls (formerly Project Dark) is NOT a direct sequel to Demon’s Souls, but explores and expands upon the gameplay found in the first game. Dark Souls will feature a larger, seamless game world with “more complex geometry”, a deeper character creation feature and what’s looking like enhancements to the online play.

Shockingly (well, for some folks), Atlus won’t be localizing or publishing the new game in North America (or anywhere else for that matter). Namco Bandai has the US and European publishing rights, which may mean we’ll see the game on a press tour at some point here in NYC. Additionally, the game will be 360-bound in North America/Europe and a PS3 exclusive in Japan (which is sort of a big “ouch!” to the much smaller Japanese 360 user base). I’d say they could use the instant worldwide sales Dark Souls will no doubt bring them, as a few of their releases from last year didn’t do too well critically. No release date has been announced, but the game is expected to launch before the end of this year.

More info on this as it comes in… stay tuned.

Given the huge critical and commercial success of Demon’s Souls, I bet the folks at From are feeling pretty darn happy. Their next big game is the TGS-announced PS3 and Xbox 360 RPG, Project Dark, a title that will probably change as more is known and shown about the game. From what info there was to be unearthed, the upcoming game isn’t a direct sequel to Demon’s Souls at all, but is still geared to “hardcore” players that crave a true challenge.

As a HUGE fan of From’s work since the original King’s Field, I love how the veteran developer is finally being accepted amongst Western and European gamers as one of the best console RPG makers currently working. As noted above, Project Dark is currently set for release in Japan sometime in 2011 through Namco Bandai, according to the logos on the teaser site), but the game’s Western publishing fate is currently unknown. Given From’s new status as a “hot” developer, it’ll really be interesting to see just who snaps up the game and what sort of localization and marketing muscle are behind any US release.