How a Fromsoft Combat Designer’s Decade-Long Dream Became Elden Ring Nightreign

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How a Fromsoft Combat Designer’s Decade-Long Dream Became Elden Ring Nightreign

When Elden Ring: Nightreign launches on May 30, 2025, it won’t just be the first time FromSoftware has focused on the co-op side of a game. This is because the idea of this game was first cooked up over a decade ago. Junya Ishizaki, a combat and level designer at FromSoftware, first had ideas for Nightreign while working on Dark Souls 3.

But you know why the game has finally been made? It’s actually because of Elden Ring‘s success. Ishizaki recently explained that the Game of the Year-winning open-world game was what provided the impetus for the development of Nightreign. And now, the roguelike co-op game is set to become one of FromSoft’s most ambitious titles.

Elden Ring Nightreign was a long time coming from FromSoft

Junya Ishizaki first joined FromSoftware as a combat and level designer during the original Dark Souls era. But it was around the time of Dark Souls 3’s development that he started getting ideas for a different kind of game. For context, the development of Dark Souls 3 began in 2013, and the game was released globally in April 2016.

I had this very vague image from this kind of game I wanted to make while in the company, and I think maybe even around the time of Dark Souls 3 development, I had these very fragmented ideas and concepts going.

In a recent interview with

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, Ishizaki described it as a “very vague image” back then, more of a collection of thoughts and themes than a concrete plan. The reason why it’s finally come to fruition is due to the success and scale of Elden Ring. The variety of builds, enemies, and weapons in the open-world hit gave him the push that he needed.

Despite being his first directorial role, Ishizaki’s work on Nightreign has earned him praise within FromSoftware. Studio president Hidetaka Miyazaki encouraged Ishizaki to lead the project, recognizing the strength of his concept and long-standing design sensibilities. Ishizaki initially had no intention of directing, but now, he says he would “absolutely” consider doing more.

It wasn’t until Elden Ring was in full production that these ideas cemented and things started to take shape in my mind… seeing the scope of the world of Elden Ring, the enemy variety, the weapon variety, the build variety of the players… this felt like a really good place to expand on and to develop these ideas.

So that is where the first ideas for Elden Ring Nightreign took form. But unlike Elden Ring, Nightreign is a tightly focused, roguelike-style co-op RPG. It centers on expeditions into the mysterious region of Limveld, where players control one of eight Nightfarers (classes). It may look like its predecessor, but it’s anything but.

It looks and feels like a lot of different FromSoft titles

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The fact that Nightreign is mainly a multiplayer game is a big deal for the studio. While FromSoft has experimented with co-op and PvP elements in the past, we’ve never seen the studio invest this heavily into it as the main priority. Ishizaki himself has been a long-time fan of multiplayer design, and he says that he wants Nightreign to feel both familiar and daring.

While Nightreign borrows extensively from the Elden Ring world, its DNA also runs deep with Dark Souls influence. According to Ishizaki, the game reuses enemies, costumes, and class archetypes from the earlier Souls games. This is why we’re seeing the game be released this early after the studio’s recent projects.

It’s a neat idea because not only does it let other directors within FromSoft flex their creativity, but it’s also less work for the developers because of said existing data.

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#Fromsoft #Combat #Designers #DecadeLong #Dream #Elden #Ring #Nightreign

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