They have also received a number of awards, primarily those for the role-playing genre, including multiple "RPG of the Year" and Game of the Year awards. The Souls series, along with Bloodborne, received widespread critical acclaim, as well as strong sales domestically and internationally. A title inspired by the Souls series, Bloodborne, was released in March 2015. In March 2014, Dark Souls II, was released, while Dark Souls III was released in 2016. Its spiritual successor, Dark Souls, was released in 2011. In 2009, FromSoftware released Demon's Souls for the PlayStation 3, which brought them international exposure. Earlier, less notable outside Japan, titles include the Enchanted Arms, King's Field, Chromehounds, Otogi, and Tenchu series. The most recent title, Armored Core: Verdict Day, was released worldwide in September 2013 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
With fifteen games developed, the Armored Core series is the studio's longest running franchise. In January 2016, FromSoftware established a studio in Fukuoka that focuses on creating computer-generated imagery (CGI) assets for their games. In December 2015, FromSoftware was nominated for developer of the year at The Game Awards 2015, but lost to CD Projekt Red. In April 2014, Kadokawa Corporation announced its intention to purchase the company from former shareholder Transcosmos. After the success of Dark Souls in 2011, Hidetaka Miyazaki became the president of FromSoftware in May 2014. In 2008, FromSoftware underwent a stock split before entering the Nintendo Wii market to release Tenchu: Shadow Assassins. In the same year, the company hosted the video game industry's first internship that let students experience game development through a game creation kit, Adventure Player, for the PlayStation Portable. In 2005, FromSoftware would start to produce a series of licensed games based on the various anime properties under the banner Another Century's Episode. In 2004, they released another Xbox title, Metal Wolf Chaos. In 2002, FromSoftware released the mech action game Murakumo: Renegade Mech Pursuit for the Xbox before entering the mobile game market, where they released another King's Field title. IGN would note however that during this generation FromSoftware's focus would shift from RPGs to mech games due in part to the success of the Armored Core series.
FromSoftware also released the Lost Kingdoms titles for the GameCube, a competing sixth generation console. The company also released a pair of sequels to their PlayStation 1 offerings with King's Field IV and Shadow Tower Abyss. In addition to these titles, FromSoftware published Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven, a stealth game that combines action and adventure elements. When the PlayStation 2 was launched in 2000, FromSoftware supported the system with the two RPGs Eternal Ring, which like the King's Field series is a first person RPG, and Evergrace, a more conventional action RPG viewed from a third person perspective. The making of Armored Core solidified the company's development skills, and in July 1999, they released the multiplayer action game Frame Gride for the Sega Dreamcast. Also during this time FromSoftware would release Armored Core, the first in a mech game series which would go on to spawn many sequels. IGN would later note that the latter was "effectively a King's Field follow-up" as it shared many of the gameplay conventions with it. After releasing a third title in that series, FromSoftware moved on to release Echo Night as well as Shadow Tower in 1998. The game did not see a release in North America, although a 1995 sequel would later be released in North America bearing the same title, which was released as King's Field II in Japan. Their first video game did not come until 1994, when they released King's Field as a launch title for the PlayStation.
FromSoftware was founded as a productivity software developer in Tokyo, Japan, on November 1, 1986.