Will Elden Ring: Nightreign have crossplay?

gabhernandez Published 18/12/2024

With the announcement of Elden Ring: Nightreign, the co-op spin-off of 2022’s Game of the Year, fans wonder if the game will support crossplay or be live-service.

Elden Ring is easily one of the most successful games of this generation, pulling in veterans and foreigners to the soulslike genre. The open-world game may have multiplayer and co-op features, but it’s primarily a single-player game at its core. This is why the announcement of Elden Ring: Nightreign shocked many fans.

As a spin-off of Elden Ring, Nightreign is similar to a survival roguelike instead of the traditional base game. FromSoftware’s new direction makes fans wonder whether the game will support crossplay between consoles and PC. Also, since it isn’t a mainline sequel, will it utilize controversial live-service mechanics like microtransactions?

Will Elden Ring: Nightreign have console and PC crossplay?

While Elden Ring: Nightreign will support cross-generational play, the game won’t have any cross-platform play.

Elden Ring: Nightreign’s game director Junya Ishizaki revealed in an interview with IGN that the game would follow in the original game’s footsteps. Like Elden Ring, Nightreign won’t have any crossplay at launch, and it’s unlikely to get the feature at all. Cross-generation play will likely remain Elden Ring: Nightreign’s limit. Players who want to experience the game with friends outside their preferred console may not get to do so.

It’s also doubtful Elden Ring: Nightreign will have cross-progression between different platforms. The original game supports transferring progress between two consoles of the same family and there are ways to use someone else’s save file on the PC version. Unfortunately, there’s no cross-progression between platforms of different families. Players likely won’t be able to transfer their Elden Ring: Nightreign data between consoles and PC. The news disappointed fans who wanted progress cohesion between different platforms.

Is Elden Ring: Nightreign a live-service game?

According to Elden Ring: Nightreign’s game director, the game won’t have any live-service components.

In the same interview, Ishizaki shut down any chances of Elden Ring: Nightreign being a live-service game. Whereas live-service games usually warrant the developer adding gradual content for players, for free or locked behind a paywall, Elden Ring: Nightreign will come as a “complete package.”

The term “complete package” also suggests Elden Ring: Nightreign won’t have any microtransactions on top of its lack of crossplay. Ishizaki states players can unlock everything after jumping into the game for the first time, though the word microtransactions doesn’t come up. Considering the criticism of single-player games with microtransactions, such as Assassin’s Creed and Middle Earth: Shadow of War, the move likely saved the internet from an exhausting debate.

Instead, Elden Ring: Nightreign will promote replayability through a version of Limgrave that’s never the same. Every playthrough randomizes the map based on Limgrave to ensure things don’t get repetitive. Some random events may affect the landscape in different ways, including spawning volcanos and meteor strikes. These events may occur during boss fights or when players are looking for gear, adding a sense of unpredictability. These roguelite elements will help make Nightreign stand out among From Software’s titles.

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