Bandai Namco is rumored to add more western influence to the next project

Bandai Namco Entertainment, the publisher behind Elden Ring, is rumored to have made an early move to secure another American novelist for their upcoming project.

The Japanese role-playing gaming (JRPG) genre has always been a haven for Japanese writers and developers who have masterfully crafted many fantastic games in the past. Never before has the gaming industry around Japan needed to look to the west for any sort of influence in writing storylines of their games.

However, with the release of Elden Ring, everything changed as the publishers of the game, Bandai Namco, chose to bestow the power of story-writing to FromSoftware’s own Hidetaka Miyazaki as well as George R. R. Martin.

Martin is a world-renowned novelist who has contributed Game of Thrones to the cinematic universe and is widely known as one of the biggest names in the dark fantasy genre.

---

Bandai Namco contacts Brandon Sanderson

Recently, Bandai Namco was found contacting yet another American fantasy novelist, Brandon Sanderson. This gave rise to speculations about whether the publishers are keen on joining hands with him for their next project or not.

Brandon Sanderson is widely known as the mastermind behind the Mistborn series and the creator of Wheel of Time. Apparently, Bandai Namco originally wanted to collaborate with him for the Elden Ring until they finally decided to opt for George R. R. Martin instead.

At that given time, Sanderson was found publicly talking over that choice as he thought it would be fitting to let him have the role. He mentioned that his relevant experience in video games makes him a decent choice when compared to the Game of Thrones writer.

In a recent YouTube live podcast of Live with Brandon Sanderson, he was seen receiving a promotional gift box from none other than Bandai Namco.

The box contained the following contents:

• A map of the Lands Between
• An unsharpened broadsword
• A wooden figurine of a late-game boss, which in fact, is the Elden Ring mascot
• A figurine of Malenia
• A letter

While Brandon did not read the contents of the letter aloud in the stream, he added that,

“They are interested in perhaps doing something together, is what that says, which I am as well.”

---

What does this mean?

Although everything seems a bit hazy at this given time, it would not be outrageous for Bandai Namco and Brandon to team up for the publisher’s next project.

While it could be a new game set in the dark fantasy backdrop, this collaboration could also mean that the publisher could be looking to expand the universe of Elden Ring and create a graphical novel set in the Lands Between.

Earlier in a 2021 interview, Bandai Namco did confirm that they might be looking to do something more than release a game in the universe of Elden Ring.

With Brandon's earlier success as a fantasy novel writer, this could be the perfect scenario to create something marvelous with the publishers. The latter has already gained success in this field with comics for Dark Souls 2 and Bloodborne.