Junya Ishizaki, the director of FromSoftware's new Elden Ring spin-off Nightreign, is no newbie. He has a list of credits at FromSoftware dating back to Dark Souls, which he worked on as a designer (or "planner," in Japanese game terminology) in 2011. He also worked on Bloodborne and served as one of four lead game designers on Dark Souls 3 before really stepping up to the big leagues with 2022's Elden Ring as battle director. Now he has the top job, a position he was encouraged to take by FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki.
"The original suggestion to become a director came from Miyazaki-san," Ishizaki said via an interpreter in an interview with PC Gamer last week. He recalled Miyazaki telling him "It's about time you try yourself," and Ishizaki "had some ideas he'd been cooking," which he presented to Miyazaki and "got the green light."
