A standalone multiplayer Elden Ring experience may have come out of nowhere for the vast majority of us, but even so, thanks to FromSoftware’s track record, when the studio announces something new, you pretty much have to pay attention. Elden Ring: Nighreign is promising a unique roguelike multiplayer action RPG experience that takes the bones of From’s beloved 2022 open world masterpiece and remixes and recontextualizes them in a way that’s completely new to the developer- and we’re quite excited about that. Here, we go over the key details that you, too, should know about Elden Ring: Nightreign.
PREMISE
Elden Ring meets Monster Hunter sort of begins to capture the idea, but there’s much more to Nightreign than that. Directed by FromSoftware veteran Junya Ishizaki, Nightreign is a run-based PvE co-op action RPG that reuses and remixes Elden Ring’s world, enemies, weapons, mechanics, and other elements, all repurposed to deliver a new and different multiplayer experience. Movement is faster and nimbler, the structure has been entirely changed, and the focus, of course, is now on multiplayer.
LIMVELD
Elden Ring: Nightreign is set in Limveld, which, FromSoftware has stressed, is not the same as Elden Ring’s setting, and more of a remixed and parallel version of Limgrave. Players will find plenty of familiar elements in the setting’s environments, but FromSoftware says the game is a spinoff that is set parallel to the world and events of Elden Ring, which means the two don’t intersect or affect each other in any way. And yes, that also means A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin – the loremaster behind the world and setting of Elden Ring – had no involvement in Nightreign or its world, as confirmed by game director Junya Ishizaki in an interview with IGN.
THREE-DAY STRUCTURE
Each run in Elden Ring: Nightreign is built around a three-day structure, which, interestingly enough, also makes use of battle royale elements. Making use of a day/night system, the game tasks players with surviving three days while exploring and facing the dangers of Limveld. Each night brings a different boss fight (and yes, you can expect plenty of familiar Elden Ring bosses, with a total of eight included in the game), and at the beginning of the following day, a large circle will have shrunk inward, battle royale-style. If you make it to the end of the third-day, you will be faced with the run’s final boss, dubbed the Nightlord.
PLAYABLE HEROES
Elden Ring: Nightreign is also taking minor cues from class-based multiplayer experiences, in that it doesn’t necessarily have classes, but does allow players to play as one of eight different characters, each equipped with unique abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. FromSoftware has yet to reveal finer details on these playable heroes, but in the aforementioned IGN interview, Ishizaki revealed that one of the eight characters “uses a Spirit Ash sort of spiritual buddy as a gameplay mechanic”.
PROGRESSION AND CUSTOMIZATION
Being a run-based roguelike, Elden Ring: Nightreign will draw a distinction between run-based and overarching progression, and as far as the former is concerned, you can expect it to deviate from Elden Ring’s formula in several ways. Players will spend runs looking for stronger weapons to use against enemies, while at Sites of Graces, you’ll also be able to level up your character. Leveling up will also bring different stat buffs and advantages based on which of the eight characters you’re playing as. The beginning of each run will reset all of this back to zilch, though the game will still allow players to make permanent upgrades. Speaking of which…
RELICS
The biggest rewards that players are going to want to keep an eye on during their runs in Nightreign are Relics. Relics can be earned in a run regardless of how far you make it, and these provide a variety of unique upgrades that are permanent across all runs. You can upgrade your attack stats, your total HP, or apply a variety of unique buffs that will make future runs easier for both you and your allies.
CO-OP OR SOLO
Elden Ring: Nightreign is designed as a primarily multiplayer experience, being a first for FromSoftware in that regard (even though the studio has, of course, included strong multiplayer elements in plenty of its titles over the years). The intended way to play the game is as a three-player co-op experience, though it has been confirmed that you can also play it solo. Playing in a party of two won’t be possible, and as you might imagine, the game and its difficulty will scale based on whether you’re playing alone or in a party of three.
NOT FULL PRICED
FromSoftware has explicitly dubbed Elden Ring: Nightreign is spinoff, and sure enough, the multiplayer title is going to be priced accordingly. Specific detials have yet to be revealed by FromSoftware or publisher Bandai Namco, but Ishizaki has confirmed to PC Gamer that the game won’t be full-priced, with pricing instead being comparable to Shadow of the Erdtree. The expansion, for reference is sold at a price of $39.99, so presumably, that’s what we can expect for Nightreign, too.
NOT LIVE SERVICE
Elden Ring: Nightreign is clearly a multiplayer-first title, and while it’s easy to assume that any multiplayer title coming out now is going to be a live service game, FromSoftware says that’s not quite the case with Nightreign. Speaking with PC Gamer, Ishizaki made it clear the studio doesn’t consider the game a live service experience. “With Nightreign, we wanted to have a game that felt like a complete package out of the box on the day of purchase, so everything is unlockable, everything is contained with that purchase. It’s not what we’d consider a ‘live service’ game,” he said.
The director added that though patches and balance updates will obviously be released following launch as and when needed, further plans about post-launch content haven’t yet been decided. “We’re concentrating on the release of Nightreign, first and foremost, but we will make considerations after the game’s release” Ishizaki said. “Especially in the form of post-release updates—balance updates, things like this that we’ve done with previous games—this will definitely be a priority going forward. For anything else, we’re still in the process of thinking about the possibilities.”
NETWORK TEST
Nightreign is due out sometime in 2025, and though a specific release date is currently unknown, we do know when players will get their first chance to go hands on with the multiplayer action RPG. A closed network test is scheduled for February. It will feature a portion of the game, and will allow you to play as four of the eight characters. Registrations for the network test are set to open on January 10, FromSoftware has announced.