Speaking during an interview with PCGamer, Junya Ishizaki, Game Director on Elden Ring: Nightreign, has said that developer FromSoftware does not consider its latest project a live-service title, but rather something that offers the ‘complete package out of the box.’
Announced during The Game Awards 2024 last night, Elden Ring: Nightreign’s trailer appeared to feature a number of mechanics that wouldn’t look out of place in a live-service product, notably its inclusion of circle enclosing the map similar to battle royale games, plus the inclusion of “hero” characters with unique attributes. Not so, says Ishizaki:
Related Content – Upcoming PS5 Games 2024: The Best PS5 Games Coming Soon
With Nightreign, we wanted to have a game that felt like a complete package out of the box on the day of purchase, so everything is unlockable, everything is contained with that purchase. It’s not what we’d consider a ‘live service’ game.
Of course we’re concentrating on the release of Nightreign, first and foremost. But we will make considerations after the game’s release. Especially in the form of post-release updates—balance updates, things like this that we’ve done with previous games—this will definitely be a priority going forward. For anything else, we’re still in the process of thinking about the possibilities.
Elden Ring Nightreign is a spinoff from the main Elden Ring experience and you won’t need to own that game in order to play it, and will carry a price tag similar to that of expansion Shadow of the Erdtree. The game is scheduled for release in 2025 for PS5, PS4, PC, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One.
[Source – PCGamer]