Summary
The former producer working forSony’s Japan Studio, Teruyuki Toriyama, has joined a new studio in Tokyo, Japan, and some of his merits includeBloodborneandDemon’s Souls. Toriyama leftSonyin 2020 and joined the Japanese studio Thirdverse, where he worked with producer Hikaru Okamura and Hideki Irie, a former executive producer at Sega.
Sony has a long list of popular IPs under its belt, includingGod of War,The Last of Us, andGhost of Tsushima. However, PlayStation is also partial to soulslike titles, which is why FromSoftware’s new IPThe Duskbloodsmade waves at Nintendo’s recent showcase. With all eyes on Nintendo’s new console, evenSony is surveying PlayStation users’ interest in the Switch 2. This effort could be designed to gather intel in preparation for the company’s next handheld, succeeding the slick PlayStation Portal.
Sirius Studio is the new frontier co-founded by Toriyama, Irie, and Tomohiro Suzuki. The studio is a subsidiary of Gz Group, based in Osaka, Japan, which is a company catering to VR and AR games. Suzuki will run the studio as president, with Irie serving as executive vice president and executive producer, embarking on a similar path toCall of Duty Zombies’ dev Jason Blundell who formed a new PlayStation studiotitled Dark Outlaw. Unlike the co-founders’ previous company Thirdverse, which shifted its focus to the production of casual games, Sirius wants to target the “planning, development and sales of digital games for consoles and PCs,” and VR and AR titles on a high-end scale.
Former Bloodborne and Demon’s Souls Producer Joins New Sirius Studio
Toriyama and FromSoft’s work onDemon’s Soulsqualified the title as one ofthe best RPGs of the 2020s so far, joiningWarhammer 40k: Rogue Trader,Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, andBaldur’s Gate 3, but Sirius is currently keeping tight-lipped on announcing any high-end titles just yet. The team’s long-term plan is to turn the studio into a “world-class development studio,” with a plan to release games internationally instead of only in Japan to appeal to 80% of the VR market in English-speaking countries.
Having worked on such a beloved title asBloodbornefor Sony, Toriyama, and the Sirius team, want gamers to form a similar attachment to their projects, saying the studio aims to “create games that make users’ hearts shine.” 10 years on from its initial launch,Bloodbornehas been a staple in the soulslike genre, and fans have been desperate for a sequel for years. The fandom nearly went into meltdown during Nintendo’s Switch 2 Direct showcase because the debut of FromSoft’s new IP looked very close to being the successor. Still,The Duskbloodscould be theBloodbornesequel gamers have been waiting for.
