It’s time to rise once again, Tarnished. If you thought your adventures in the world of Elden Ring were over after completing the DLC, FromSoftware has a surprise for you with an upcoming video game. Elden Ring Nightreign came as a shock when it made its debut at The Game Awards 2024, and since then, it has rivaled Ghost of Yotei and GTA 6 for the title of the most anticipated upcoming PlayStation 5 game. However, this isn’t exactly an Elden Ring 2. Elden Ring Nightreign will be the most unique game from the studio yet, despite its familiar name. Feel free to summon our help in learning everything you need to know about Elden Ring Nightreign.
This is just another amazing upcoming Xbox Series X game and upcoming PC game, but sadly isn’t on the exciting list of upcoming Switch games. Although, The Duskbloods is a brand new upcoming Switch 2 game from FromSoftware you should check out.
Release date
Elden Ring Nightreign will arrive on May 30, 2025.
Platforms
Because it is built off the same bones as Elden Ring, Elden Ring Nightreign will be available on all the same platforms. That includes PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
Trailers
We got our introduction to Elden Ring Nightreign during The Game Awards 2024 with a full gameplay trailer. We see the familiar, yet unique landscape of the game, which is called Limveld and is a parallel world to Limgrave from the base game. We follow a character running from a closing blue magical circle as a narrator speaks. They inform us that our “seekers of redemption” have been brought together by some unknown force.
The narration goes on with multiple speakers, but is as cryptic and impossible to fully interpret at this point, as you would expect from a FromSoftware game. However, given the nature of the game (which we will dive into in the next section), we suspect the story will play an even smaller role in Elden Ring Nightreign than is typical.
FromSoftware has begun releasing short, character-specific trailers, starting with Ironeye. This character uses a bow as a primary weapon and is able to dash, leap, and slide around the battlefield with ease. The trailer also shows off a skill where they plant a greatbow and unleash a massive arrow with a wide AoE along its path.
The Dutchess was playable in the beta and is the dex-fucses character in the roster. She starts with a dagger and has the best dodging ability we’ve seen. Fast strikes and critical hits are her forte, as well as he very interesting ability to repeat her last few seconds of attacks as an ability. She can also conceal herself to sneak up and get a critical hit on an enemy to begin a fight.
The other classes have also gotten individual trailers on the Bandai Namco YouTube channel, but you can learn about them all in one spot in the Overview Trailer we’ll go over below.
Gameplay
This is where Elden Ring Nightreign might turn some hardcore fans off. Instead of being a traditional action RPG like Elden Ring or Dark Souls, this game is a three-player co-op roguelite experience at its core. You will each pick one set character class and set out into a world filled with random enemies, locations, bosses, and loot. There’s also an encroaching barrier similar to a battle royal game. Don’t let that trick you, though. Elden Ring Nightreign has no PvP elements at all and is only PvE. If you and your team have managed to survive until the zone is at its smallest, you will face one final boss that you chose before starting and need to overcome to win.
The five classes we know of so far are:
Wylder: an armored night with a longsword.
Duchess: a dexterous rogue with a dagger.
Guardia: a tanky soldier with heavy weapons.
Recluse: the mage of the group.
Ironeye: a ranger.
There will reportedly be eight classes to choose from, but for now, those are all we know about for sure. This means you won’t be creating your own character and building them up as you see fit. Instead, each one will have its own set of weapons, abilities, and an ultimate. For example, we see Wylder use a grappling hook to grab enemies or pull themself around the environment. It appears as though all characters will be able to glide on magical birds to get around, and there is even some parkour, with characters running up walls.
When it comes to the actual fighting, everything in Elden Ring Nightreign so far looks to be essentially the same as in Elden Ring. You will still need to manage stamina, dodge, and use your heavy and light attacks. Movement speed is greatly increased, while Torrent is gone and fall damage has been removed.
The trailer showed a lot of returning enemies and bosses, but not just from Elden Ring. Fans of prior FromSoftware games might spot a few interesting bosses that appear to be pulled right out of those other games.
The Overview Trailer is more of a tutorial of sorts, going over the basic rules of the game, the world, and what makes each of the 8 playable character classes unique. It does talk a bit more about Relics, which are what you will retain between each run, win or lose. You will be able to equip up to three of these before runs to grant yourself and your team various buffs, such as improved stats or changing how certain skills work.
Murk is another currency you will keep and spend at an odd little jar merchant in the hub. From what we see, it looks like he sells Goblets to create new relic rites, emotes, Relics, and mysterious items that need to be purchased to reveal their use. Murk can also be spent at the fitting mirror to unlock new cosmetics for each of your characters. This includes some throwbacks, such as the cover armor for Dark Souls 2, Solair’s set from Dark Souls, and certainly many more we will have to find for ourselves.
For all you lore lovers out there, fragments of lost memory “may return” as you go on runs. It isn’t clear if you need to do something specific to get these or if they simply unlock over time. However, they will reveal the history of these characters by unlocking conversations with other characters in the hub that create unique objectives on your next run. If you manage to complete them, you will get some item that unlocks a part of the lore.
Preorder
With the release date revealed, preorders for Elden Ring Nightreign have also gone live on the official website. Preordering any edition will get you one piece of bonus content, but there are two additional options for fans willing to pay a bit more. Here’s what is included in each version and how much they cost:
Standard Edition – $40
- Base game
- Bonus “It’s Raining!” gesture preorder bonus
Digital Deluxe Edition – $55
- Everything in the Standard Edition
- Digital artbook
- Mini souindtrack
- Additional DLC with playable characters and bosses
Collector’s Edition – $200 (physical only from Bandai Namco store)
- Everything included in prior editions
- Statuie of Wylder
- Steelbook
- Nightfarer cards
- Exclusive hardcover artbook
- Digital soundtrack
- Collector’s Box
