Sony studios head wants to see more Demon’s Souls

Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida says he loves From Software’s Demon’s Souls and would really like to see more of that game on PlayStation platforms, but wouldn’t say when or if we’ll see a direct sequel to the 2009 game.

Yoshida said Sony “dropped the ball” when it passed on publishing Demon’s Souls in North America and Europe. Atlus and Namco Bandai picked up the slack, with the latter publishing From Software’s spiritual successor, Dark Souls.

Sony still owns the rights to the Demon’s Souls intellectual property. At E3, I asked Yoshida about Sony’s relationship with From Software and if it plans to work with the developer again on the license.

“We have been great partners with From Software from the very beginning of PlayStation,” Yoshida said. “I was actually the account manager of them when we launched PS one in Japan. I worked directly with [Naotoshi Zin], president of From, when they were entering into video game development. We have a long history of working as platform holder, developer and publisher in the case of Demon’s Souls. We love them.”

I asked Yoshida if Demon’s Souls is a franchise that could join series like Killzone, Gran Turismo and Uncharted as a multi-PlayStation platform — and if Sony would consider developing a sequel without From Software as the primary developer.

“That’s a great question, but because of the attention that will get, I choose not to answer,” Yoshida said. “But personally, I love Demon’s Souls. I spent hours and hours and hours [playing it].”

“I love the team, I love the game and yeah, I’d really like to see more. But that’s all that I will say.”