Massive speculation – with a hint of actual possibility – ahead.
After eight years of airing, Game of Thrones has finally reached its end. While many have found the last few episodes to be the worst kind of send-off to a series that has been a cultural phenomenon this last decade, it’s still undeniable how much fame it brought to the man who originally conceived it – George R.R. Martin.
Of course, with the fame it has brought him, it’s no surprise that Martin is being courted for all sorts of deals across all kinds of media, ranging from TV series, books, comic books, possible films, and of course, video games. The latest rumor, however, goes far beyond the A Song of Ice and Fire series, one that could possibly be the next big title to be announced this year.
This rumor was given form after Martin’s latest post on his blog, which talks about the end of the Game of Thrones series, as well as the future plans for his books. While most of the post is just mundane stuff and congratulatory notes to the cast and crew behind the series, there is a certain sentence which caught the attention of people who have been following this developing story for a while, myself included.
“I’m involved with a number of feature projects, some based upon my own stories and books, some on material created by others. There are these short films I am hoping to make, adaptations of classic stories by one of the most brilliant, quirky, and original writers our genre has ever produced. I’ve consulted on a video game out of Japan. And then there’s Meow Wolf…” Martin writes (emphasis ours).
Now, if you’ve been following the rumors lately, it would seem that this is now somewhat unofficially confirmed: George R. R. Martin has possibly worked with Japanese video game developer FromSoftware, best known for the Souls series.
It would be very interesting to see how this potential partnership will play out. Martin is very well-known for his world-building and characters, while FromSoftware is known for their distinct gameplay mechanics that tells a story within itself. If the rumors are to be believed, the title is an open-world setting filled with different kingdoms, which the player must liberate. It features open-ended gameplay and a non-linear narrative, allowing you to complete said kingdoms in any which order you choose.
The NeoGAF leak poster named Braldyr has also somewhat commented on this possible upcoming title, the entirety of which you can read here.
“Only other Japanese developer that MAYBE shows up and this is a huge maybe. This is my personal speculation and nothing that I actually know of or aware of from anyone or anything. I could maybe see From Software,” Braldyr posted on the video game forum.
“From Software debut Dark Souls III at E3 2015 at the Microsoft stage for the first time and then Sekiro last year as well. The only time From Software was at Sony stage was for Bloodborne if my memory serves me correctly at E3 2014.”
E3 2019 just got a lot more interesting.
