Elden Ring Creator Hidetaka Miyazaki Named One of Time's Most Influential People

Hidetaka Miyazaki, the longtime director and creator of projects like Elden Ring and Dark Souls, has been named one of Time's "Most Influential People" for 2023. Each year, Time releases its latest list of people that it believes are having the biggest impact on the world at large. And while video game developers are almost never seen among this group, Miyazaki has now become the second such creator to ever be given this accolade. 

Listed in the "Innovator" category of Time's Most Influential People, Miyazaki found himself named alongside other notable creatives, executives, and athletes. Time also chose Disney CEO Bob Iger, soccer superstar Kylian Mbappe, and actress Natasha Lyonne to also slot into this category with Miyazaki. As VGC notes, Miyazaki is the first video game developer since 2007 to be named as one of Time's Most Influential. The previous gaming creator that received this honor was Shigeru Miyamoto, who is the longtime Nintendo director and boss. 

Naughty Dog co-president and director Neil Druckmann, who is most well-known for his work on The Last of Us, was the one to write up the explanation for why Miyazaki was chosen to appear on this list for 2023. In short, Druckmann said that Miyazaki's games look to challenge the player in a way that leads to "tension, beauty, and surprises." Miyazaki's accomplishment with this type of game design was most notably seen over the past year with Elden Ring, which was met with widespread critical and commercial acclaim after it launched in early 2022. 

"Miyazaki's games make the player feel accomplished and smart—and it's all thanks to his and his team's uncompromising approach," Druckmann wrote. "He refuses to overexplain the mechanics or the lore, but rather puts his trust in the player to figure it out on their own."

Are you happy to see that Miyazaki is getting this recognition from Time? And what other video game creators do you believe should also be on this list? Let me know either down in the comments or hit me up on Twitter at @MooreMan12.