Dark Souls Named to Avoid Racist, Anus References

The director behind the spiritual successor to Demon's Souls originally wanted to call the game Dark Race and Dark Ring, but couldn't because of the potential overseas connection to racism and buttholes.

Hidetaka Miyazaki said that this was one of the only areas in which From Software considered the international audience in terms of development. It was feared that the upcoming third-person RPG - now titled Dark Souls - would lose some of its Japanese sensibilities after its predecessor grew a cult following in the West.

According to Andriasang, which translated the original interview on 4gamer, "Dark Souls was going to be called "Dark Ring" at one point. The reason this didn't happen is because Dark Ring is slang for anus in England. The Dark Race name didn't hold because there was worry that it would be viewed as a racist expression overseas."

Other areas where international gamers were considered involved the general interface and control schematics of the game, and efficient localisation work. Miyazaki noted that part of Demon's Souls appeal from Western players may have been in its "strange" and "unknown" design and art style.

One thing the game won't let up on is the difficulty - while it's already been reported that Dark Souls won't be a walk in the park, Miyazaki explained that the game will last about 60 hours in total, will have a seamless world map resulting in the feeling of "one huge dungeon" and that there will be around 100 different kinds of enemies (compared to Demon's Souls 30).