Hidetaka Miyazaki on Elden Ring difficulty: 'More players will pass it'

Elden Ring director and FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki expects more people to play the upcoming open-world game than the studio's previous titles.

In a new interview on the PlayStation Blog Miyazaki said that Elden Ring is more flexible and welcoming compared to other FromSoftware titles, and because of this he thinks "more players will play it this time".

In comparison, FromSoftware's latest game, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, ranks as one of the studio's most difficult titles. According to the achievement data, just over 23% of Steam buyers have reached the Sekiro ending. PlayStation Network data shows an average completion rate of 44%, highlighting how difficult the game was.

While Miyazaki is confident that Elden Ring's richer RPG elements, accessible multiplayer, and open world will allow more players to complete the game, he states that "we didn't intentionally try to reduce the game's difficulty."

“I feel like our approach to these games, and not just Elden Ring, is to design them in a way that encourages the player to overcome adversity. We are not trying to force difficulties or complicate things for the sake of them. We want players to use their cunning, learn the game, memorize what's going on and learn from their mistakes."Miyazaki says.

Elden Ring releases February 25 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

A source: PlayStation Blog