Story is still a major focus in Elden Ring Nightreign development, says director
Expect to see more lore deep dives in the weeks following Nightreign's launch.
Great news for fans of the game’s lore – Elden Ring Nightreign may be in a different timeline from the base game, but FromSoftware still places a key emphasis on its story.
When Nightreign was first announced, many fans were delighted that there was more Elden Ring content on the way. For fans of Elden Ring lore, Nightreign’s reveal was also intriguing, especially given the fact that it’s set in a different timeline to the original game and its DLC.
On one hand, this opens up lots of possibilities regarding the game’s story and lore. On the other hand, the fact that it is primarily a multiplayer experience might mean the story aspect isn’t a key focus, with the alternate timeline being made out of convenience instead of having proper consideration for the lore.
Thankfully for lore hunters, the Elden Ring Nightreign development team put major emphasis on this project’s story. This was revealed during our recent interview with game director Junya Ishizaki.
“The story and lore behind Nightreign was something we focused on throughout development because it impacts game design choices, world-building, the map, and more,” said Ishizaki.
While Ishizaki didn’t go into detail about the story, the fact that it’s a key consideration should be great news for lovers of all things lore. Sure, the fact that it’s in a different timeline means there likely won’t be much in the way of connection to the base game’s story, but we can at least expect that a lot of thought and effort has gone into developing Nightreign’s mythos.
“The world of Elden Ring and Nightreign split around the time of The Shattering, so it exists in a separate timeline,” added Ishizaki.”We had to strike a balance to ensure the mythos is similar up to a certain point, but also create a separate mythos for Nightreign. In Elden Ring, concepts like Grace are key pillars for building the story. For Nightreign, we chose the concept of night and built upon it, using previous lore while making it distinct.”
Thanks to this, we’re already excited for the many Nightreign lore videos that are sure to come out in the coming weeks and months.
Elden Ring Nightreign will be released on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC on May 30, 2025.