FromSoftware's Rumored Pirate Soulslike Game Could Be A Dream Come True 10/10

For as much as FromSoftware's name has become synonymous with dark fantasy, the studio has never needed one particular kind of setting to bring its ideas to scale. The real draw has always been how thoroughly it commits to danger, mystery and world history, which is why the recent rumor of a pirate-themed game from FromSoftware is so easily put on the backburner, even if reports of its existence still need to be taken with a grain of salt. The developer has already confirmed that it has several projects in development across different genres, and a pirated Soulslike would be one of the most exciting possibilities if it were real.

According to recent leaks, the game is said to be titled Heavenly onslaught and would see FromSoftware enter a pirate-inspired action RPG with sailing, islands, and a ship serving as the hub, though none of this has been officially confirmed. Still, the idea is almost too good to pass up. Pirates, cursed treasure, ghost ships, sunken ruins, sea monsters and lost civilizations already sound like bits and pieces of FromSoftware's world, and if this rumor turns out to be true, it could be a 10/10 dream come true.

Pirates fit into the software better than they should

Generally, pirates are first thought of as adventure fantasy. This usually means open seas, buried treasure, ship combat, taverns, rival crews and some version of freedom, players must hit the open seas and go where the wind takes them. Of course, this version of the genre can be exciting, but it's also not the only way to get pirates. At their darkest, pirate stories are about greed, isolation, violence, superstition, betrayal, and men chasing treasure to places they were never meant to discover. This version of piracy already sounds much closer to a FromSoftware game.

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But that's also why it's so easy to jump on board with this rumor, even before we get to the specific leaked details. FromSoftware wouldn't need to force pirates into its formula because pirate fantasy already has enough danger and myths in it, what the studio would need to do is shed the usual romanticism that comes with it and leave behind something weirder and of course grittier. To be honest, it seems like the darker side of pirates was meant for FromSoftware and FromSoftware for him. Plus, the industry has seen a lot of pirated games that basically do the same thing, and if FromSoftware is known for doing one thing, it's doing something else.

A Pirate's Soul could avoid the genre's biggest pitfall

It's true that pirate games tend to live or die by how much freedom they can promise, and it makes sense. The idea of ​​open seas, ship battles, buried treasure, competing crews, hidden islands and total freedom is instantly exciting. However, it also creates expectations that are almost impossible to fully satisfy. Once the novelty of sailing wears off, a pirate game needs to give players more than distance to cover and supplies to manage. The world must continue to feel worth exploring.

This is where FromSoftware could have a real advantage with this rumor, assuming there's any truth to it. The studio has always been good at creating tense exploration, as the player rarely has a full sense of what they're getting into. The pirate setting gives this instinct a natural new shape because the genre is already built on uncertainty. Each voyage is supposed to carry the possibility of reward, danger, betrayal, or something better left undiscovered.

This would matter because a Soulslike pirate could lose his identity if he stuck too closely to the genre's usual checklist. Ship customization, naval battles, crew management, and treasure hunting could all have their place, but the strongest version of the idea would allow those features to come out into the world rather than being the whole point. The dream version of this rumor is a dangerous, strange, carefully designed action RPG where the pirate fantasy gives FromSoftware a new mythology to transform into something more gritty.

Ship Hub might be the best idea of ​​the game

However, if there's one leaked detail that sounds particularly promising, it's the idea that the player's ship will serve as the hub. In a Soulslike pirate game, a ship should be more than just a place for players to return to between dangerous areas. It should be the clearest sign of the journey itself, bearing the crew, the scars, the rewards, and perhaps the consequences of whatever the player has brought with them from the world.

This could make the ship one of the most important parts of the entire game. FromSoftware's hubs are often memorable because they change in small but meaningful ways as players move further into the unknown. A pirate ship could make these changes easier to notice. New faces could appear on board, strange discoveries could change the space, and parts of the ship could open up over time. Even the simple act of returning from a cruise could become part of the core gameplay loop.

The idea becomes even more interesting if the ship becomes restless over time. FromSoftware's classic hubs tend to offer relief without ever feeling completely safe, and a pirate ship would be a great place to explore that idea even further. The more players depend on her, the more she could start to reflect the darker parts of the journey. For a Soulslike pirate, this could turn the ship into something inviting enough to make you feel at home, and just weird enough to make players question what they've been carrying around all along.

Of course, the ship is just one piece of the pitch, but it still shows why this idea has so much potential. FromSoftware's Soulslike pirate could draw on more than ships, swords and treasure maps. The darker side of piracy already gives the studio the kind of material it thrives on – greed that leads people too far, superstitions that turn into something real, and exploration that seems dangerous because every discovery costs something. Heavenly onslaught is still just a rumor, but if FromSoftware is really building a game around this kind of fantasy, it's easy to see why the idea already sounds like a 10/10 dream come true.