‘Elden Ring Nightreign’ Has A Release Date Ahead Of Its GOTY Nomination

FromSoftware shocked everyone when they announced last year that Elden Ring would be getting new content for the third year in a row, albeit this time, they were doing something different.

That is the multiplayer survival standalone Elden Ring Nightreign, which now has an actual release date: May 30, 2025. So, in just over three months, everyone will be playing. There is about to be a closed network test for Elden Ring that will have various sessions active from February 14 to February 16, so the testers (I got in!) can play with each other and experience what the game will be like. It’s console-only on Xbox and PS5, but there’s no crossplay.

The release date was announced alongside a trailer showing off more footage of the game, which, as you’d expect, looks very cool. My title is kind of a joke, but not really a joke. Elden Ring has now been nominated for GOTY (winning in 2023) two times in a row in the form of its expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, also receiving a nomination at The Game Awards in 2024. That was controversial because yes, it’s huge in size, but it was not standalone, and actually required a lot of playtime in the base game to even access it. It didn’t win, Astro Bot won, but this time around as a standalone game, Nightreign getting a nomination wouldn’t be questionable. And I mean, this is FromSoft. You think they won’t get one?

Here’s the official description of Elden Ring Nightreign:

“ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN is unlike any experience created before by FromSoftware, Inc. In this condensed action RPG, players will never experience the same journey twice as enemies, rewards, and Limveld itself are ever-shifting and evolving with each new session. Defeating greater enemies and venturing into the more dangerous parts of the map will uncover more powerful weapons and greater Rune rewards. Finding Sites of Grace gives each hero a chance to level up and gain crucial power. With each session-based adventure being akin to playing through an open-air dungeon, every journey provides an opportunity to grow lasting stat bonuses. Successful runs against the night bring players ever closer to defeating the Nightlord and unraveling the story behind each Nightfarer in this parallel world.”

It’s a dramatic departure from the base game, which featured multiplayer only in the form of occasional co-op or PvP. If this was another single player franchise going multiplayer, I think there’s be some pushback, but this looks so cool no one really cares. See you May 30. Well, before that, if I report back on the closed test.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.