Summary

  • The idea for Elden Ring Nightreign first originated during the development of Dark Souls 3.
  • Director Junya Ishizaki began shaping the concept for Nightreign during Elden Ring’s full development.
  • Ishizaki also said he’d love to direct more projects like Nightreign in the future.

The Elden Ring Nightreign director has revealed that the idea for the game first popped into his mind when he was working on Dark Souls 3. The third entry in FromSoftware’s massively popular franchise came out in 2016, which means the idea of a game like Elden Ring Nightreign was already taking shape in the director’s mind long before the original Elden Ring was even in development.

Dark Souls is arguably the most iconic series FromSoftware has created, even after the tremendous success of Elden Ring. These titles set a new standard in video games and even created a new genre—the Soulslike. The Dark Souls series inspired numerous games in both the AAA and indie scenes, and even shaped the future titles that FromSoftware itself would release. It’s no surprise to see many similarities between Dark Souls and Elden Ring, even though the latter belongs to its own series. Now, with Nightreign, the franchise is expanding with a new, standalone condensed RPG that will offer a cooperative, roguelike experience, whose lore and setting stem from Elden Ring; however, it looks like the idea for Nightreign dates back several years.

Elden Ring Nightreign Revenant class reveal trailer still frame rain
Elden Ring Nightreign Reveals Revenant Class

Mere days ahead of Elden Ring Nightreign's release, FromSoftware reveals the Revenant class from its upcoming co-op action RPG.

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During an interview with GamesRadar+, Elden Ring Nightreign director Junya Ishizaki revealed that he had a vague idea for a game like this since he was working as a combat and level designer on the successful Dark Souls 3. Ishizaki explained that he had “very fragmented ideas and concepts going,” though it wasn’t until Elden Ring was in full production that he could finally really envision Nightreign.

Nightreign Director First Got the Idea for the Game While Working on Dark Souls 3

Ishizaki said that once he saw the scope of Elden Ring’s open world, with the incredible amount of different enemies, weapons, and player possibilities, he realized it was a “good place to expand on,” and started giving shape to his ideas more clearly. Elden Ring features a ridiculous variety of enemies and bosses scattered around its massive open world, each with a unique set of movements, offering completely different challenges for players to take on.

Later in the interview, Ishizaki admitted he didn’t know he was going to be the Nightreign director until Hidetaka Miyazaki offered him the role, and now he would love to direct even more projects in the future. Elden Ring Nightreign is scheduled for release on May 30, and while the inspiration for the game seems obvious due to its very name, Dark Souls 3 also played an important role in first introducing the idea to the director’s mind.

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9 /10

Elden Ring Nightreign
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Action RPG
Soulslike
Roguelite
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Systems
PlayStation-1 Xbox-1 PC-1
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Top Critic Avg: 80 /100 Critics Rec: 78%
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Released
May 30, 2025
Developer(s)
From Software
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
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Genre(s)
Action RPG, Soulslike, Roguelite