FromSoftware games have had multiplayer for over a decade, but Elden Ring Nightreign makes playing with others more central than ever. There's a lot of love for the studio's approach to multiplayer, but there could also be a fair bit of lag in its games. As Nightreign approaches, I was keen to ask director Junya Ishizaki, joined by producer Yasuhiro Kitao, how FromSoft has bulked up its multiplayer muscles to accommodate this new focus, especially as the servers are inevitably slammed at launch on May 29.
"There are, of course, some areas to the infrastructure and the network systems that we are looking at again, in terms of Nightreign being a multiplayer-focused title," Ishizaki responds via interpreter.
"One area, in particular, is each session being roughly 40 minutes or so, 30 to 40-minute sessions, so making sure that the infrastructure is robust enough to support that, at the very least, is something that we're looking at. But also incorporating safety measures as well," Ishizaki continues.
"In the worst case, we want players to be able to keep playing, even if there is a connection issue. We don't want them to just get kicked out. We want them to be able to keep playing in their own world, for players to reconnect. We're also looking at matchmaking, not just using a password system like in our previous titles, but looking at ways that players can pool and matchmake together in terms of progression and what they have available to them.
"These are things that are taken for granted in the multiplayer gaming sphere, and so we're trying to incorporate as many of these as possible and improve our multiplayer game."
Ishizaki beat me to the punch a bit here: what about those worst-case scenarios? Developers have explained time and time again that online games always struggle at launch because you can only prepare so much. How is FromSoftware preparing for best-case and worst-case launch day results?
Ishizaki's immediate response when I asked this, quite understandably, was to laugh.
With Kitao chiming in as well, he says: "What we tend to do is look at previous titles, the relative online connection rate and retention rate of previous titles. We're looking at pre-order numbers for Nightreign, of course, and the network test was also a good point of reference. Generally, we have a lot of good points of reference to gauge relatively accurately where we'll be at launch, and we are, of course, keeping measures and keeping our eye on things to make sure that we are going to have a stable and enjoyable environment to play in at launch."
Godspeed, FromServers.
With just days to go, Elden Ring Nightreign director says it's "equal parts nerves and excitement" as FromSoftware polishes game balance "until the last minute."
