Elden Ring Nightreign Is Not a Live-Service Game

Summary

• Elden Ring Nightreign is not a live-service game, offering a full package with unlockable content out of the gate.
• The game will avoid live-service features like microtransactions and will provide the same experience for all players.
• Despite being directed by Ishizaki and not Miyazaki, FromSoftware aims for Nightreign to achieve similar success as its predecessors.

FromSoftware has confirmed that Elden Ring Nightreign is “not intended as a live-service game,” shutting down any possible rumors. The forthcoming spin-off to 2022’s Elden Ring was recently unveiled for PC and consoles at The Game Awards 2024, with a release window of 2025.

Ever since breaking onto the scene, the George R. R. Martin-crafted world of Elden Ring has captivated players and enjoyed terrific success. From rapidly selling millions of copies to sweeping multiple award shows, the Hidetaka Miyazaki-directed game and its Shadow of the Erdtree DLC have stood out from the competition in many aspects. Elden Ring Nightreign, another game set in the same universe, now appears poised to take the legend of the Lands Between to new heights. Offering an online multiplayer spin, it looks to break away from the single-player focus of the previous two releases, promising a refreshing experience for Elden Ring fans. At the same time, despite foraying into this genre, it aims to do things differently compared to Concord and other live-service flops.

In an interview with IGN, Elden Ring Nightreign director, Junya Ishizaki, clarified that the forthcoming FromSoftware game does not follow a live-service model. Revealing the game’s nature, he said buyers of the co-op game will receive “the complete package,” with everything being “unlockable out of the gate.” Notably, Ishizaki explained the Japanese studio’s decision to make a multiplayer game, in spite of recent cautionary tales in this genre. He stated, “We don’t tend to look at the industry and base our game design or our concerns on what’s going on in that sort of more general sense.” Further, he added that the Elden Ring devs believe that, as long as the team was making something it was passionate about and something it enjoyed playing, fans would be likely to “share in that experience and hopefully enjoy it as well.”

Elden Ring Nightreign to Avoid the Controversial Live-Service Approach

Stepping away from the live-service trend in gaming, Elden Ring Nightreign seems to be doing stuff the old-fashioned way. Essentially, this would mean that the spin-off game won’t have certain live-service features, such as microtransactions and battle passes, that are prevalent in multiplayer games like Helldivers 2 and several others. Moreover, Ishizaki’s comments suggest that Nightreign will offer the same experience to each player, with no additional paid content being part of the plans.

Being the first Elden Ring project not helmed by Miyazaki, Nightreign will not only take the highly acclaimed fantasy IP into a new genre but also execute a new director’s vision. In any case, FromSoftware–which currently faces a possible acquisition by Sony–would hope that the forthcoming Elden Ring game can benefit from its predecessors’ popularity and achieve similar levels of success.