Namco Bandai is interested in a mobile version of Dark Souls, but developer From Software hasn't been easily convinced. Apparently they believe that the touch-screen controls would change the core gameplay too much from their original vision.
Namco Bandai director of global strategy Alex Adjaj spoke to Digital Spy and said that Namco is very interested in a mobile entry but there seems to be no way to get From Software to see their side of things.
"We'd like to bring Dark Souls to mobile, but it's very difficult because the guys at From Software are very much console oriented," he told Digital Spy. "To change their mind about it, it takes quite a while. The leads on Dark Souls are saying we don't want to do mobile because the controls would have to be changed, and therefore it won't be Dark Souls anymore."
It's almost commendable, isn't it? Dark Souls on mobile would almost certainly be huge, but if they would have to change those tight controls and force sloppier touch-screen controls on us, wouldn't it hurt the brand in the long run?
But all hope is not lost- lots of manufacturers (including Apple themselves) are looking to incorporate more traditional controllers into gaming on iOS platforms, and Namco Bandai would take advantage of that when they can. "[Y]ou have a growth in controllers for mobile," says Adjaj. "I think it's not an impossible case scenario to see a Dark Souls game coming to mobile at some point. But the truth is that the conversations we have with device manufacturers are saying the first control they want is glass, obviously, it's not controller or joystick. They want people to use glass to control the game, so it's a bit difficult, but we're getting there."
It sounds good but then his next quote solidifies From Software's good decision to ignore this platform, at least for now. "I think there is a need to redesign the way you reroll in the game to make it a bit more casual, so with shorter sessions," he explained. "But definitely it's something we could bring to mobile in a very successful way. It's tricky because mobile has grown to be the biggest platform today, just in terms of install base."
More casual? Dark Souls?
Don't they know that the game prides itself on being absolutely menacing to the gamer? The marketing campaign for Demon's Souls revolved around how difficult and hardcore the game was, after all, with "YOU WILL DIE" printed across ads and trailers. So perhaps From Software stepping away from a more casual reinterpretation of their game is a good thing.
For those of us waiting for the classic hardcore Dark Souls experience, Dark Souls II is hitting Xbox 360 and PS3 in March. Prepare yourselves.
