FromSoftware’s multiplayer Elden Ring spin-off has hit over 300,000 players on Steam, but it’s proving a divisive experience.
Elden Ring Nightreign launched today around the world and while it doesn’t necessarily play to developer FromSoftware’s strengths, it has had a strong start on Steam (its success on consoles is much harder to track).
As recorded on SteamDB, the co-op multiplayer spin-off has hit a concurrent player peak of 313,593 within its first day on Steam. This is significantly lower than Elden Ring’s overall peak of 953,426 players, but it’s pretty good for a lower profile and lower budget game.
At the time of writing, Elden Ring Nightreign is the fifth most played game on the platform, behind Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, PUBG, and er… Bongo Cat. However, not everyone is happy with the experience so far, and it’s already become FromSoftware’s lowest rated title on Steam.
As of May 30, Elden Ring Nightreign has a ‘mixed’ rating on Steam, with only 66% of 9,000+ reviews being positive.
This is technically the lowest of all FromSoftware’s available PC games (if we aren’t counting the delisted Ninja Blade), although technically DLC The Ashes Of Ariandel for Dark Souls 3 is lower at 59% rating.
Many of the negative reviews for Elden Ring Nightreign have highlighted the lack of voice chat, the absence of duos mode, and the minimal variety during runs as particular sore points.
‘I hate to say it, but I think we’ve finally see a bit of a miss from FromSoftware,’ one user review reads. ‘One that I think is still salvageable, and really could be turned into a much more interesting game – but as it is right now, it’s got a bit more bad than good going for it.’
However, some are seeing the positives even if they do come with caveats. ‘Super fun game,’ another review reads. ‘Your enjoyment will most likely be based on your teammates and how good your communication is.’
In terms of critical response, Nightreign is currently at 77 on Metacritic, which isn’t a disaster but is well below that of any of From’s other major titles, since they hit the big time with Dark Souls in 2011. The only games to score lower are experimental VR title Déraciné and a suite of mech games, including Armored Core 5, in 2012.
Speaking in an interview with IGN earlier this month, the director behind Elden Ring Nightreign, Junya Ishizaki, said they are considering adding a two-player mode post-launch, so there’s a chance some of these issues could be fixed further down the line.
The big question is whether Elden Ring Nightreign will attract a dedicated player base in the coming months to make these updates worthwhile, or if it’s simply riding the popularity of Elden Ring.
This multiplayer experiment, which many suspect started life as Elden Ring DLC, is perhaps also a test for FromSoftware’s next multiplayer offering: The Duskbloods. The PvPvE game is set to be released next year as a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive.
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