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TIME Magazine names Hidetaka Miyazaki one of the 100 most influential people of 2023

Hidetaka Miyazaki, creator of the soulsborne genre and titles like Dark Souls, Sekiro, and Elden Ring, was chosen by TIME as one of the most influential individuals of the year.

David ArroyoArroyoSantayana

“The guy that invented a genre that was followed by 100,000 indies.” “When you pushed A every time a QTE told you to, along came Miyazaki and recovered the concept of Videogames.” This is how, with hyperbole and hype, fans of FromSoftware have welcomed the news surrounding their videogame idol, Hidetaka Miyazaki. TIME Magazine has just selected the game developer to be part of the list of the 100 most influential people of 2023.

This title, which has barely even touched the gaming industry in the past, puts Miyazaki on the same level as people like Beyoncé, Elon Musk, Lionel Messi, Pedro Pascal, and Neil Gaiman. His addition to the list has been attributed to the unprecedented success of Elden Ring in 2022, a game that crowned a decade of work in which the creator and his team changed the face of video games forever, and after which they simply announced that they had more planned for the future. You just need to take a look at his recent resume to find out how he did it, most of the time by following the formula they themselves crafted and perfected:

  • Demon’s Souls (2009) - Director
  • Dark Souls (2011) - Director
  • Dark Souls II (2014) - Co-director
  • Bloodborne (2015) - Director
  • Dark Souls III (2016) - Director
  • Uprooted (2018) - Director
  • Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019) - Director
  • Elden Ring (2022) - Director
He's kind of a big deal.

The person in charge of writing the epigraph where the reasons of his inclusion are explained is Neil Druckmann himself, the co-president and creative director of Naughty Dog. Credited as “the developer behind The Last of Us (the game and the HBO series)”, TIME magazine presented the following words from Druckmann about the work of Miyazaki:

“The first time I played one of Hidetaka Miyazaki’s games, I was miserable. I kept dying on the first enemy over and over again. But when I slowed down my approach, paying attention to the details, it all of a sudden clicked. I managed to defeat the enemy and advance further into the game. I earned my progress and felt a sort of rush! And as I moved forward in the game, I was much more deliberate, careful in how I explored this world. And in return the world rewarded me with tension, beauty, and surprises.”

“That’s why Elden Ring—his massively popular 2022 hit—is a great ambassador for video games and the unique feelings they can effect in the player, feelings that a passive medium like TV can never re-create. Miyazaki’s games make the player feel accomplished and smart—and it’s all thanks to his and his team’s uncompromising approach. He refuses to overexplain the mechanics or the lore, but rather puts his trust in the player to figure it out on their own.”

Praise the Sun and Miyazaki.

Source | TIME Magazine