Former Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida has suggested that it was the original PlayStation that brought us From Software as a developer and Bloodborne as a game.
Speaking to Simon Parkin on the latest episode of his My Perfect Console podcast, Yoshida said the industry’s jump from cartridges to CDs enticed From Software to transition from a business software company to a game software company. As Yoshida recalled, Sony, a newer entrant in the console-making business, was attempting to court the likes of Atlus and Namco to bring their games to the OG PlayStation system. Cartridges were expensive and small in data capacity. CDs, Yoshida said, were much cheaper, quicker to manufacture, and capable of storing larger sets of data. From Software thus saw an opportunity to try something new.
“They didn’t have to wait for two or three months to restock their games,” Yoshida said. “If the game is successful, the CD-ROM can be delivered [within] three or four days. So one of these companies was From Software. From Software was a business software company. But when they saw a CD-ROM game system like PlayStation, they [said], ‘Oh, we can become a video game publisher.’ So that’s how they invested, they entered into the video game industry.”
