While FromSoftware’s next title, Elden Ring: Nightreign, is slated to be a co-op action RPG with 3-player parties, director Junya Ishizaki has said that the studio accidentally ended up neglecting players that might have preferred a 2-player experience. Speaking to IGN, Ishizaki said that Elden Ring: Nightreign has been designed and balanced around the idea of three-player parties.
“The simple answer is that this is simply something that was overlooked during development as just a two-player option, so we’re very sorry about that,” said Ishizaki when asked about the lack of an option for two-player parties. “As we said before, we set out to make this a multiplayer co-op game for three players, balanced for three players, so that was the main focus and it’s at the core of Nightreign.”
“Of course, I myself as a player understand that and often want times where I’m just playing myself, so this is something that we considered from the start. And so we did put a lot of effort into creating this experience that was playable for solo players in as much as the rules and new systems allowed.”
Ishizaki has also said that FromSoftware is looking into bringing in an option for two-player parties to be able to play Elden Ring: Nightreign without having to use matchmaking to get partied up with a stranger. “So in putting all our efforts into that aspect, we kind of overlooked and neglected the duos aspect, but this is something that we are looking at and considering for post-launch support as well,” he said.
The statements about the balance of Elden Ring: Nightreign specifically being based on the idea of 3-player parties also apply to those that might be looking into playing the game solo, according to Ishizaki. “Seeing as this game is built around three players, we understand the concerns of those solo players, but essentially a lot of the time in Nightreign you will be acting and behaving on your own,” he said.
“Even in a group as three, you’ll be going off and challenging different areas of the map and collecting different things before you accumulate together at the boss fight.”
Ishizaki had spoken about the fact that two-player groups would only be able to play with a random third person brought in via matchmaking back in February. “In terms of a dual queue system, there is one in place,” said Ishizaki. “You can play with, for example, your friend and another random person throughout the entire game. So there’s definitely no issue there.”
At the time, Ishizaki had said that having separate modes for solo play or two-player parties wasn’t a priority for the studio at the time. “Regarding having just two players, not three players or solo, it is something we are considering, but it is currently not in the game at the moment,” he said.
Elden Ring: Nightreign is coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on May 30. Along with this, FromSoftware is also working on another multiplayer title exclusive to the Nintendo Switch 2 – The Duskbloods.
