At long last, Elden Ring Nightreign has a confirmed release date in its sights. The upcoming roguelike is unlike anything we have ever seen from developer FromSoftware. It announced its Elden Ring spin-off at The Game Awards, a standalone adventure built around three-player online co-op. You'll dive into a universe parallel to the core Elden Ring universe, venturing into Limveld – an amalgamation of some of Limgrave's environments and areas. In this new land, you'll need to work with two of your friends to survive the day, looting and leveling as you explore, with the night bringing a shrinking map and powerful boss encounter – make it to day three, and you'll be able to take on the Nightlord, earning powerful relics which can be used to supercharge your next session.
It's a wildly different take on Elden Ring and one we're keen to learn more about. FromSoftware already proved that co-op can work within this world, but Elden Ring Nightreign is set to be a massive expansion of the concept. The character creator is gone, so too is more minute progression. Instead, Nightreign is built around speedy collaboration, smart expansion of builds, and the coming together of different abilities to take on massive challenges against a deadline. Elden Ring Nightreign is one of the most anticipated games of 2025, and below, you'll find everything we know about it so far.
Elden Ring Nightreign release date
FromSoftware has confirmed that Elden Ring Nightreign will launch on May 30, 2025. Pre-orders are now live on publisher Bandai's homepage, with a Seekers, Deluxe, and Standard edition currently on sale. Coming just a year after much-anticipated DLC Shadow of the Erdtree, we weren't expecting the co-op extravaganza to land so soon - though it gives us yet another mid-year release to look forward to as the roster of new games for 2025 shapes up.
Elden Ring Nightreign platforms confirmed
Elden Ring Nightreign is set to land on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, and Xbox One when it releases on May 30 this year. The great news is that you won't need to own a copy of Elden Ring to access this cooperative experience with your friends, as it is a standalone adventure. It is currently unknown whether full cross-platform play will be supported. However, it is unexpected as this was not available in the original Elden Ring experience (which only supported co-op within each publisher's platform ecosystem).
Elden Ring Nightreign trailer
What is Elden Ring Nightreign?
Elden Ring Nightreign is a three-player co-op game, a standalone spin-off adventure set in a universe parallel to the events of Elden Ring. You'll join two friends at the Roundtable Hold and then head off into Limveld, fighting together to survive three full day-and-night cycles. Outlast the day, and you'll need to contend with the coming Night's Tide, which shrinks the map until you're left with no option but to battle one of many different Elden Ring Nightreign bosses.
The world becomes progressively more challenging across each of the three days, culminating in a battle with the Nightlord himself. FromSoftware says you can opt to play Elden Ring Nightreign solo, but there is strength in numbers.
Elden Ring Nightreign isn't Elden Ring DLC
Elden Ring Nightreign isn't a DLC, it's a standalone adventure. Publisher Bandai Namco has also confirmed that it won't be free-to-play and that it won't be a premium priced experience either, but is yet to put a firm answer out into the ether for how much it'll ultimately cost. As this is standalone, it's unlikely that any progression or items will carry over from Elden Ring or Shadow of the Erdtree.
Elden Ring Nightreign characters
Elden Ring Nightreign is a departure from the classic FromSoftware model. You won't be able to create a character from scratch, and will instead choose from one of eight unique Elden Ring Nightreign characters. Known as Nightfarers, each one has their own fighting styles, unique abilities, and ultimates, fulfilling a fairly typical class role, be it fighter, mage, or assassin.
As you head into the realm of the Nightlord, you'll need to synergize with two other players to ensure a balanced party – collaborating to take down powerful foes and venture into more dangerous parts of the open-world Limveld map. You'll be able to customize the appearance of your character in Elden Ring Nightreign by unlocking skins, and you'll be able to upgrade your equipment by unearthing special relics.
Elden Ring Nightreign gameplay
Elden Ring Nightreign gameplay is markedly different to the original Elden Ring. Where that experience dropped you into a sprawling open-world and left you well enough alone to figure out how to proceed, Elden Ring Nightreign is more focused. It's a session-based game, allowing you and two friends to launch into Limveld and attempt to outlast three full day-and-night-cycles. As you explore the land and battle enemies together you'll uncover more powerful weapons and better rune and relic rewards – used to upgrade your equipment and abilities. Sites of Grace can be located throughout the shrinking map too, giving you a chance to level up and gain crucial power for the session.
Leveling is different in Elden Ring Nightreign versus its single-player counterpart. You won't be investing runes into individual stats, but rather into entire levels which increase your character stats across the board. Nightreign has eight characters to choose between and stat expansion is different for each of them. Character stat progression doesn't carry across between sessions – meaning that regardless of whether your group succumbs to the dangers of Limveld or is able to defeat the Nightlord, you'll always begin a new adventure back at level one. There is however progression in the form of Relics – earned through both successful and unsuccessful runs – which provide massive bonuses, impacting everything from exploration to your equipment.
If you were one of the lucky few who managed to sign up for the Elden Ring Nightreign beta test, then you'll have the chance to experience the upcoming game's gameplay firsthand in February. The Elden Ring Nightreign beta will run over five separate sessions, each of which will be limited to just three hours. So don't expect only long gaming sessions, folks. We'll keep you posted as more gameplay news and updates head our way over the next few months.
Elden Ring Nightreign combat
The Elden Ring Nightreign combat experience builds on the baseline Elden Ring experience but there will be some notable differences. With the character creator gone, there are eight builds to choose between as you load into a session – each with its own equipment, weapons, and proficiencies. From the gameplay footage we've seen so far, it's the combination of the three characters which unlocks the best opportunities in Elden Ring Nightreign with tank, DPS, and support builds coming together to tackle big challenges. There's some subtle changes too, with fall damage removed from the experience, and movement sped up to allow faster exploration and navigation as you combat a shrinking map. Otherwise, you should expect Elden Ring Nightreign to handle similarly to the original Elden Ring, with the controls and core combat mechanics returning.
Elden Ring is one of the best action games ever made, but only time will tell if this co-op spin-off will be considered one of the best online games in today's market.
