Summary
Elden Ring Nightreignhas launched to a stunningly large playerbase, with FromSoftware’s Roguelike experiment peaking at 300,000 players on Steam alone. Since launching less than a week ago,Nightreignhas sold 3.5 million copies, showing a level of willingness by long-term fans and new players alike to get on board with a large departure from the studio’s normally single-player games.
Elden Ring Nightreignbucks the trend of FromSoftware’s usual titles by placing its emphasis on multiplayer first, which is normally not the driving philosophy, moving away from a persistent world to one of matchmade exploration. It isn’t the first studio known for single-player games to experiment with multiplayer, but it is a significant move for FromSoftware, as the company has always blurred the lines between the two through its esoteric summoning mechanics. However, despite some obvious technical challenges the game is facing, it’s clear that broadly, the game has been a success in captivating those players who crave a new experience, proving that FromSoftware is not a one-trick pony.
Elden Ring Nightreign Has Shown FromSoftware Is Still a Gaming Innovator
As the progenitors of the Soulslike genre, FromSoftware has left a huge mark on the gaming landscape as it is. As well as its own catalog of iterative titles, it has spawned a small industry of studios making games that imitate the formula, adding new takes on the familiar framework. But it isn’t the only thing FromSoftware is known for as beforeSouls, it hadArmored CoreandKing’s Field. The former was revived in 2023, with anincredible reception toArmored Core 6, showing then that FromSoftware had the freedom to go back to older franchises that had gone quiet to make way for the Soulslikes.
ButNightreigntakes this a step further in a way.Armored Coreshowed that the studio could go back to an older style successfully, butNightreignhas shown that FromSoftware can keep innovating. There has always been a question surrounding the studio in regard to Soulslikes. After all, it pioneered and innovated the genre, but some had wondered if FromSoftware had trapped itself in a corner, forced to forever be the Soulslike developer.Nightreign’s ability to meld Soulslike and Roguelike into one shows that this isn’t necessarily the case, and some have already speculated on the existence of a new Reignlike genre, inspiringNightreignimitators.
Fromsoftware Wants to Move Away From Elden Ring
Unfortunately for many fans,FromSoftware will not be developingElden Ring2, although its existence isn’t off the table, asArmored Core 6has shown. Instead, afterNightreignandThe Duskbloods, it seems like Hidetaka Miyazaki wants to try something different. This could be anything at all, from a twist on the Soulslike genre to something else entirely, and if the studio is feeling galvanized by the success of its experimental titles and revivals, it could be something very different indeed.
Without knowing what comes next, there is every possibility that some new genre could be right around the corner, one that could define the types of video games that get made for another decade or more. The Soulslike genre has seen huge success stories such asLies of PandJedi: Fallen Order, and its influence has bled over into even non-Soulslike games, as many games have adopted its combat style, including some verypopularSkyrimmods. The future is not yet written, but FromSoftware could be cooking up a formula that sets the tone for something new and exciting.
