Developer FromSoftware and publisher Bandai Namco have announced Elden Ring Nightreign, a standalone co-operative spin-off set in a world parallel to that of 2022’s Elden Ring.
Revealed with its debut trailer at The Game Awards 2024, Elden Ring Nightreign allows players to team up with two co-op partners and drop into a condensed map based on Elden Ring’s Limgrave area, with enemies and structures that are randomised at the start of each session.
From there, players must hustle to defeat enemy camps and find more powerful weapons, so that when nightfall comes they have a better chance of surviving a challenging boss encounter. If players survive for three in-game days, they must take on a major boss, with eight major bosses to be found and conquered in the game.
Designed to be approachable for existing players and newcomers alike, Elden Ring Nightreign features a roster of eight playable characters to choose from, each with unique skills and ultimate attacks. Nightreign is a ‘session-based’ RPG intended to be played online with three players, but solo play will also be supported.
While Elden Ring was helmed by venerable FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki, development on Nightreign is led by first-time game director Junya Ishizaki. However, Ishizaki is no newcomer to the Soulslike genre, having been a member of the FromSoftware team since 2011’s Dark Souls, serving critical roles including level/battle designer on 2015’s Bloodborne and combat designer on Elden Ring.
“As a developer, I had many ideas for what could potentially be new games during the development of the past titles I've worked on, including Elden Ring,” Ishizaki told IGN.
“This time I stepped up as a new director, I was given the opportunity to direct this idea for Nightreign. We've always been seen as a company that makes these Soulslikes or this kind of traditional formula of Soulslike games and so I saw this as an opportunity to do something different. To challenge both myself and the company to build something new while still using what we've cultivated with our previous titles. Also personally, I enjoy co-op multiplayer experiences and I wanted to make something that was very much focused on that with Nightreign.”
Earlier this month IGN had the opportunity to visit FromSoftware and go hands-on with an early build of Elden Ring Nightreign. We came away impressed, stating that Elden Ring Nightreign “takes the cautious dungeon crawls of Elden Ring and turbocharges them into propulsive, slash ‘n’ dash speedruns.”
Check out IGN's interview with Junya Ishizaki in full for even more on Elden Ring Nightreign. Elden Ring Nightreign has been confirmed for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, and PC sometime in 2025.
And be sure to check out IGN's round-up of everything announced at The Game Awards 2024 for more on what's coming to the world of gaming in the years ahead.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
