As Xbox closes studios like Tango, Silent Hill…

Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama may have a strategy to help video game studios stay afloat as the industry as a whole grapples with layoffs and closuresAccording to him, FromSoftware, the developer of Elden Ring, is a perfect example.

“The balance between routine and preserving the style of your games is important,” Toyama said in a new interview with VGCwas asked about his reaction to the closure of Tango Gameworks. Parent company Microsoft closed Hi-Fi Rush studio in May, despite executives saying they “couldn’t be happier” with the studio’s latest release in 2023. Studio founder Shinji Mikami, who also created Resident Evil, called Microsoft’s decision “sad.”

“Take FromSoftware for example,” Toyama told VGC, “they keep making different games, but some styles and aspects of their games stay the same. That’s a clear example of how a studio succeeds. Not changing everything every time can be the key to survival.”

The players have recognized this aspect FromSoftware games like Elden Ring and Dark Souls, dating back to the studio’s first title, the 1994 action RPG King’s Field. While 20 years can change the demographics, the staff, and certainly the ideas, FromSoftware has nonetheless spent each of its major releases refining the mood and fantasy of the games that came before it. The studio effectively reuses certain elements and concepts in its games, and Elden Ring director and FromSoft president Hidetaka Miyazaki prides himself on retaining “conservative” expectations in general. So far, all of this has helped make FromSoftware more performant and stable, thanks to some good games.

Toyama will soon release the bloody Slitterhead action-horror game. Just as Mikami left Capcom to found Tango, Toyama left Sony to found Bokeh Game Studio in 2020. The developer will release Slitterhead, its first game, on November 8.

When we spoke to him, Toyama said he wouldn’t be “dissatisfied” if Slitterhead was his last game because his “final mission” is to “leave a path for these young creators.”