Translated Japanese Dark Souls art book set for U.S. launch

A hardback art book featuring the environments, weapons and inhabitants of From Software's much-loved RPG Dark Souls is due to be launched in North America in October.

Licensed and translated by Toronto-based Udon Entertainment, Dark Souls: Design Works includes interviews with game director Hidetaka Miyazaki as well as a selection of the fantasy-combat game's artists.

The 128-page full-color art book (8.25" wide x 11.75" long) will be priced at $39.99. Amazon is currently offering a pre-order price of $28.91.

Grid View

Udon marketing manager Chris Butcher told Polygon, "North American gamers really connected with Dark Souls. Its dark, creepy edge appeals to people. You can see how much effort the game's creators put into making a world that players would be curious to explore."

He said that the announcement of Dark Souls 2 by publisher Namco Bandai, set to be launched in March 2014, had convinced Udon to translate the original Japanese book. "There are over a thousand art books published every year in Japan, for anime and video games," he said. "Deciding which ones to bring over takes either a lot of foresight or a built-in audience."

He added that the "passion of this audience" is demonstrated by its willingness to complete one of the most notoriously challenging games of recent years.