Katsuhiro Harada, the renowned former director of the Tekken series, has lauded Hidetaka Miyazaki, president of FromSoftware, describing him as a "unique, yet extremely serious game developer." However, Harada believes that Miyazaki's career and the studio's achievements are not fully appreciated, with too much focus placed on the commercial success of titles like Dark Souls and Elden Ring rather than the studio's developmental journey.
Harada pointed out that Miyazaki's path into game development was unconventional. Unlike many peers who entered the industry during the early polygon era, Miyazaki began his career in game development at age 29 after working as an Oracle account manager. His fascination with games like Ico inspired an abrupt career change, but his lack of prior industry experience made finding employment difficult. FromSoftware ultimately gave him a chance, initially as a designer on Armored Core: Last Raven, before he moved into directing roles for subsequent Armored Core titles and later, Demon's Souls and Dark Souls.
From his vantage point as a producer and marketing general manager at Bandai Namco during the Souls series' rise, Harada observed that the studio's success was not an overnight phenomenon. "Dark Souls didn't suddenly become a massive success overnight," Harada stated. "It was the result of everything Miyazaki and his team had built up through their previous titles."
Harada expressed frustration with how the industry and some observers evaluate game development. He criticizes the tendency to judge a game's merit solely by its budget and sales figures, suggesting that this perspective neglects the crucial growth and evolution of the development team over time. "There were so many people who couldn't appreciate the journey or the growth of the developers themselves," he remarked, questioning why there isn't more interest in understanding the process through which developers reach their current standing.
He further clarified that this critique was not aimed at fans but might extend to some within the business side of the industry who lack patience for the long-term professional development of game creators. Harada also touched upon Miyazaki's apparent discomfort with public appearances and interviews, attributing it partly to a feeling of impostor syndrome. According to Harada, Miyazaki often expresses that his understanding of game development is still developing, a sentiment Harada finds ironic given Miyazaki's significant contributions to the medium. "Come on, if you say you're still not there yet, then the rest of us won't feel qualified to talk about games at all," Harada commented on Miyazaki's self-assessment.