At The Game Awards 2024, Bandai Namco Entertainment and FromSoftware announced a brand-new Elden Ring spin-off game. Titled Elden Ring Nightreign, the upcoming multiplayer action survival game is scheduled to launch in 2025 for the PC (Steam) and PS5/PS4/Xbox One/Xbox Series X|S.

Elden Ring Nightreign is directed by FromSoftware’s Junya Ishizaki, who was a level designer for Dark Souls, Dark Souls 3, Bloodborne and Elden Ring. In an interview with Famitsu, Ishizaki revealed a bunch of interesting details about the upcoming new title and its gameplay.

Ishizaki was predominantly involved in designing Elden Ring’s combat, and towards the end of the title’s development, he was approached by studio head Hidetaka Miyazaki and offered to direct a new game. Since the systems and content of the new project were very new and challenging for FromSoftware, Ishizaki decided it would be wiser to focus their resources on the game design, rather than creating everything from scratch. As a result, Elden Ring Nightreign inherits some of the worldbuilding, enemies, weapons and locations of Elden Ring, while introducing a completely revamped structure and game cycle.

Ishizaki describes it as a game in which three players survive for three days, with the objective of defeating the final boss who appears at the end of the third day. You start your mission, choose the final boss you want to tackle, and start off on a three-day survival adventure.

Each day has a daytime and nighttime period. During the day, you explore, strengthen your character and look for equipment. As time passes, the explorable area of the field narrows. When night comes, it’s time for the boss battle. This cycle repeats three times, ending with the final boss showdown.

Ishizaki mentions that, although Nightreign is designed to be played cooperatively by three people, it is possible to play solo as well, a decision FormSoftware made because they want to prioritize player freedom. On the other hand, even when playing multiplayer, you won’t have to worry much about interacting with others, as Nightreign is designed to bypass the need for excessive communication. There will be no text chat, only pings and gestures. In addition, the game is not designed to enforce team play, so you can basically be a “lone wolf” during the daytime and just join your mission mates for boss fights.

The new spin-off’s vast map will be dotted with bases, dungeons and other elements to conquer. The locations of these will change randomly for each new round you start in the game (Ishizaki says rounds will last an average of 40 minutes).

In the bases and dungeons, players will come across enemies and treasure chests. Defeating enemies will give you runes, which act as XP, and the treasure chests contain weapons and items. The weapons will have randomized stats.

You’ll be able to choose from eight characters to control, each with a fixed name and appearance. Unlike in Elden Ring, these heroes are not Tarnished ones, and each character is tied to something like a class, with different backstories, characteristics, skills and special moves.

As for enemies, Nightreign will feature enemies from Elden Ring during the day and even some bosses, although Ishizaki does not divulge further details. Dark Souls enemies will also make a small appearance, representing creatures that have strayed from another universe.

The game’s controls will not be too different from the Dark Souls series and Elden Ring,but the rules have been changed significantly, Ishizaki reveals. “For example, in past titles, encountering an enemy on the road felt like having a barrier in front of you, but in this game, it feels more like “I’ve found prey to strengthen my character with, let’s defeat it!” In this sense, I think gameplay will feel quite different, and I hope you will enjoy it.”

Explaining the core concept of Elden Ring Nightreign, the director comments, “We’re calling it a ‘short RPG’ among ourselves, and we’re basically aiming for a rich playing experience that condenses the fundamental fun of RPGs, such as exploration, character growth, and battles with strong enemies, into one-time missions.”

According to Ishizaki, the game will be equally fresh and enjoyable regardless of whether you’re familiar with the original Elden Ring or not.

Elden Ring NIGHTREIGN is scheduled to launch in 2025 for the PC (Steam) and PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Xbox Series X|S.