FromSoftware
Here’s the pitch for Elden Ring: It takes the gameplay of Dark Souls and mixes it with the storytelling and world building of Game of Thrones. The upcomingPlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC game is being developed by FromSoftware, the studio behind Dark Souls and Bloodborne, with help from George R.R. Martin Himself.
We don’t know a huge amount about the title. Elden Ring was announced in 2019
, but we’ve heard little about it since. Interest in the game has been excited, however, thanks to a freshly leaked trailer and a smattering of details that have yet to be confirmed by FromSoftware.
What do we know for sure?
Elden Ring was unveiled at E3 2019, with a trailer being shown during Microsoft’s keynote. It shows a brutal, harsh fantasy setting as a narrator explains chaos has been wrought since “someone or something” smashed the Elden Ring. But we got little in the way of specifics, other than assurance that the game would launch on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. No release window was given.
In an interview published on the official Xbox site over E3 that year, FromSoftware president and Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki divulged more details. The game’s development began in 2017 following the release of Dark Souls 3’s Ringed City DLC and it’ll be a third-person RPG game that’s more heavy on role-playing elements than action.
“This title will include a wide variety of weapons, magic and ways to engage enemies, that make it possible to provide users with a style of gameplay and strategy that suits them,” Miyazaki said at the time. “Even when compared to the Dark Souls series, I believe this title will provide even more variety in the ways for players to overcome challenges and tweak their tactics when facing enemies.”
Later in the interview, he noted the biggest difference between Elden Ring and Dark Souls is that the upcoming title will be open world.
What is George R.R. Martin’s involvement?
Miyazaki and the team at FromSoftware are responsible for writing Elden Ring’s narrative, but outsourced the world, lore and mythos to Martin. With Elden Ring being a much larger game than Dark Souls, the world-building is more crucial than in previous FromSoftware titles. A bigger game needs more characters, cultures and locales, and Martin was recruited to make these more meaningful.
“[Martin’s] mythos proved to be full of interesting characters and drama along with a plethora of mystical and mysterious elements as well. It was a wonderful source of stimulus for me and the development staff,” Miyazaki said. “Elden Ring’s world was constructed using this mythos and stimulus as a base. Even I myself find it hard to contain my excitement from time to time.”
In a subsequent interview, Miyazaki has added that people who worked on the Game of Thrones TV show have also helped build Elden Ring’s world.
What has leaked?
After over 18 months of near radio silence, which was a particular letdown at last year’s Game Awards, a trailer for Elden Ring leaked in early March. A heavily watermarked 112 second clip shows more of Elden Ring’s world and the demonic creatures that inhabit it. More importantly, it showed glimpses of in-game combat, including from horseback.
The leak sent Dark Souls fans buck wild. The community spliced together clips of different leaks and even upscaled footage to HD. The footage is reportedly from 2020. An unverified industry insider with a track record of reliable leaks has said that the trailer was for internal purposes. What’s more, they added that Elden Ring will have player vs. player multiplayer as well as an in-game weather system.
When is the game coming out and will it hit PS5 and Xbox Series X|S?
The answer to both questions is that no one knows. It was speculated that Elden Ring would launch in 2020 and then 2021. It’s been reported that COVID-19 complications have disrupted development, causing delays. In short, the release date for Elden Ring is “TBA”.
As for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, it seems highly likely that the game will appear on the new consoles, even if it’s just the PS4/Xbox One/PC version running smoother and at higher resolution. That said, this also has not been confirmed.
