A while back, something became a hot topic in the gaming community... There's a game development company called FromSoftware, known for creating "Dark Souls," a massive, world-renowned hit. It became so popular that other companies started imitating its style, to the point where such games are commonly referred to as "Dark Souls-likes." It's no exaggeration to say they essentially pioneered an entire genre.
There was a man who loved Dark Souls so much that he dreamed of making a game just like it. He applied for a job at FromSoftware, but unfortunately received a polite rejection letter. Still, he didn't give up on his dream. Even if he couldn't get into FromSoftware, he could still make a game like Dark Souls. Over the span of six years, he worked entirely by himself to develop and release an original Dark Souls-like game.
Being an indie solo project, the quality fell far short of the original Dark Souls, but spending six years building a game all by yourself is still quite an achievement. If that were the end of the story, it would be genuinely impressive. However, the creator had a serious issue with morals. When releasing his game, he shared a personal anecdote—"How I got rejected by FromSoftware..."—along with an actual screenshot of the rejection letter.
This triggered a flood of criticism, with people calling it a breach of compliance. Even creators from other gaming companies chimed in, with some harshly remarking, "The interviewers at FromSoftware were right to turn down someone who would pull a stunt like this." Soon, voices criticizing his game began to pop up as well:
"FromSoftware is all about constantly making new games. Why would they need a creator who can only make a cheap knock-off of the first Dark Souls?" "While this guy spent six years making a cheap knock-off of the original Dark Souls, FromSoftware went and made SEKIRO [their latest masterpiece of overwhelming quality]. Brutal."
The comments were mercilessly blunt...
Word is, he's selling it on Steam as an independent indie release. As for "compliance," my bad—nobody might have actually used that exact word. I don't really know what "compliance" means, but I see it around sometimes, so I just used it to mean a violation of basic manners. If that's wrong, I apologize. But apparently, making a private rejection letter public violates basic etiquette as a working professional.
By the way, when the creator originally announced, "I got rejected by FromSoftware, so I spent six years alone making a Souls-like game!", internet users were all hyping him up. They were praising him, saying things like, "That's amazing," "It's just like *Attack on Titan* getting rejected by *Weekly Shonen Jump* and finding massive success in *Weekly Shonen Magazine*!", or laughing at FromSoftware. But once the idea spread that making a rejection letter public is a major faux pas for a working adult, everyone did a complete 180 and started bashing the creator all at once. Honestly, it was hilarious.
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