After Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki said the game wouldn’t be getting a DLC or sequel following Shadow of the Erdtree, it’s safe to say that fans of the blockbuster Soulslike weren’t expecting any announcements at The Game Awards.
Boy, were they wrong. Out of the blue, FromSoftware revealed a brand new Elden Ring game during the ceremony, sweeping aside the other trailers and surprise reveals like a lunging Maliketh.
When it lands next year, Elden Ring Nightreign will give co-op fans the chance to take on fiendishly challenging bosses (including at least one enemy from Dark Souls) in teams of three – not that the extra squadmates will make life any easier.
Once you've chosen one of eight characters, your squad will venture to a new area known as Limveld. Judging by the trailer, the new setting is still as soggy and miserable as Limgrave from the original game, with the same iridescent sky.
Only this time, there’s a twist: The action takes place across three days, with each passing night causing the map to shrink, bringing you closer to a sequence of boss fights. Survive the nocturnal gauntlets and you’ll face off against the game’s big bad, the Nightlord. Whisper it: Is FromSoftware borrowing from Fortnite?
Described as an “open-air dungeon” that rewards replays, the spinoff’s roguelike-meets-battle-royale setup could draw in a new crowd of players.
Ultimately, Nightreign sounds like a more compact, fast-paced experience compared with the sprawling, open-world format of its predecessor. And, if the semi-multiplayer mode on Elden Ring wasn’t to your liking, the chance to explore a full game with up to two of your pals should be a treat. Prefer playing alone? You can do that, too.
This alternate version of the Elden Ring universe also features the Nameless King, one of several characters who have strayed into this realm from the world of Dark Souls. Wait a minute, does this mean we’re in a soulslike multiverse?
The gameplay trailer was heavy on bone-crunching combat. Mutated dragons, winged serpents, and a Cerebrus-like wolf with three heads are all lying in wait. Ramping up the Lord of the Rings imagery, giant falcons are shown carrying players across lava pits to new areas of the map.
News of Nightreign comes as Sony considers a takeover of FromSoftware’s parent company, Kadokawa, the anime and entertainment giant. The move would grant Sony full control over the esteemed Japanese developer, in which it already holds a minority stake, raising concerns over the multi-platform availability of its future games.
Fortunately, FromSoftware has confirmed that Nightreign will be available on both PlayStation and Xbox, along with PC via Steam.
