If you haven't seen the news today yet Dark Souls has already been a huge hit in Japan, outselling its predecessor Demon's Souls in just one week. Up until now though all we've heard from Namco Bandai in the UK is that pre-orders are going well, but now they've put a figure on it: 20,000.

We spoke to marketing director Lee Kirton and asked how he really thinks the game will fare in the sales charts, why fans should buy it day one and what the future of the franchise will now be…

GC: How are pre-orders going for Dark Souls so far? What kind of success level is Namco Bandai expecting for the game – will it be a mainstream hit or still a cult title?

LK: Dark Souls is pre-ordering very well. It’s better than Demon’s Souls in terms of numbers and the buzz is different this time round. Obviously with Demon’s Souls it was released a year previous in Japan/US so we had a challenge to install it into the UK market and also create a new fan base for those that could have imported it.  We are focused on making Dark Souls a hit.

It’s a sleeper hit I think and it’s got a huge following and it’s also a brilliant game. At the moment we have over 20,000 pre orders in the UK and it’s climbing still with reviews starting to appear. Games TM’s have just gone on sale with an amazing cover and wallet and a 9/10 score. They say it’s 'nothing short of extraordinary' and 5/5 just came in from 360 Magazine. It’s going to create a lot more buzz in its final week before launch and it’s great to now be able to bring this game to Xbox 360 as well.

We also wanted to try and boost pre-orders by creating a day one edition of the game. We will not have a standard game at launch. Everyone that buys prior to launch or around launch will receive a bigger box with the original game box inside, a lovely art book, a soundtrack from the game, making of DVD and a digital guide to download and help them along the way. All this is exactly the same retail price as a normal game. We’re doing this to rewards the fans.

GC: Are you worried that the game is going to get lost in the Christmas rush – it’s coming out on the same day as Rage and neither title is likely to get to number one thanks to FIFA 12. Wouldn’t it have been better to release it at a quieter time of the year?

LK: October/November is a tough time to release a game other than the usual franchises, however Dark Souls is a AAA game which we’ve handled in a particular way to focus at one on the core audience and fans of Demon’s Souls first. They love this game and they want it more than anything - they are our priority, hence the day one edition we created for them. We really want the game to catch on and maybe attach itself to fans of all action RPGs, because it’s brilliant.

We’d love to get a share of Oblivion/Skyrim fans so they can try out Dark Souls... it’s a real challenge and a game that everyone will talk about forever. We have concerns obviously because the market is a bit shaky, but remember Dark Souls is not scared of other games... it’s unique and hard as nails, literally. If you sent it into an East End pub against other games in the genre it would literally tear them apart.

GC: Given the extreme level of difficulty of the game what does Dark Souls’ success say about the current state of the core market? Do you think this is a reaction against the causal trend, where even supposedly core games are incredibly easy to complete and require little real skill? What would you say to those who might be intimidated or put off by the difficulty level of Dark Souls?

LK: Dark Souls is what I would call a ‘proper video game’. It’s not holding your hand like most games... it’s bringing gaming back to where it once was. It’s tough yes, it’s deadly, but it’s cheeky also and incredibly rewarding. It’s a game that fans have discussions about over the 'Net, and we are not afraid of admitting what this game is. You will get through it, but you need to think and act in the right way. It’s amazing, truly. The online modes are also truly unique.

GC: Is the lack of downloadable content also a reaction against current trends in gaming? Whose idea was that? Namco Bandai’s or From’s? Given how lucrative downloadable content can be was that a hard decision?

LK: I don’t want to discuss any negativity around Dark Souls because there isn’t any. I can’t also comment if there is downloadable content or not, however this game is not a four hour experience. This is an epic experience with some of the best game play any action role-playing fan is likely to witness. It’s also got some great online play and it’s worth every penny.

GC: Given the success in Japan does that make a sequel a done deal already? What discussions have you had with From Software about the future of the franchise and what’s the earliest we could see another game? Is there anything thought of some kind of portable spin-off or port?

LK: At the moment we have no information on what’s going to happen next. It’s an important franchise for Namco Bandai and I hope to see a lasting future with the superb team at From Software.

GC: How good are you personally at the game? What’s your proudest moment in it so far?

LK: I have played it a lot and to be honest I get killed a lot. There are very few games that I work on that I don’t play through development. Dark Souls is the only game I wanted to wait for a final retail copy to then take it home and keep my saved game. I didn’t want to go through too much pain with the debug and code to then have to do it again. I have a copy of the game and I am getting into it properly this weekend. Sorry everyone, you will have to wait until October 7.

I have played many sections though, which I can’t talk about because we haven’t wanted to reveal anything about it.

Just saw it on N4G. I had no idea some reviews were already out!

And 20k is great!

Looking awesome!

20k is good for Europe so far. Didn't vgchartz have the us numbers at like 100k for ps3 and 50 k for the 360. SO it should do well overall.

Great!

One of those must be mine... I have mine with Zavvi...

Very impressive all around so far.

The 20k number is only for the UK so add on a bunch if you add on all of Europe.

ha yea I meant the UK. 

So maybe 250K first week in America on PS360 and another 150K in Europe which means 400K in total ww.

400K first week typically means 1.6 million lifetime (slightly more with an upcoming Xmas season) but that's without the 400K estimated lifetime Japanese sales, so in total we have Dark Souls at over 2 million lifetime on PS360, which meets my goal. Sweet!!

yeah I'm really pondering adding 1 to that UK number, but I know I won't have the time to play that game before it hits bargain bin... then again I really want to support the auto SE for all preorders, that's the way SEs should be done, a reward, not a paid bonus.