Elden Ring: Emboldened By The Flame of Ambition

 

There is, almost certainly, no possibility that you haven't heard of notorious-video-game-developer FromSoftware's monumental Elden Ring. Though, for the uninitiated (or, people who live under a rock (increasingly tempting proposition these days)); Elden Ring is an action-RPG developed by FromSoftware, which released in 2022. A true amalgamation of the studio's 28 years of experience, the title is a monumental achievement both critically and commercially, arguably redefining what it meant to be an "open-world" game in an industry that was, and still is, proliferated by an abundance of mediocre competitors.

As of April 2025, Elden Ring would prove to be an unprecedented, colossal success, with FromSoftware's publisher, Bandai Namco, announcing that the title had sold through 30 million units across all platforms. It makes it that much more important to note that the studio's titles were considered incredibly niche due to their unforgiving, if not outright punishing, gameplay. 

Set in a world helmed by George R.R. Martin (who definitely doesn't have anything better to do with his time), Elden Ring takes place in the high fantasy realm of "The Lands Between" a metaphysical realm of death and decay, plagued by warring gods and cosmic entities that puppeteer the world as a whole. Another reason that the studio's games are so niche is that their stories are not laid bare for the player, much of the context, history, and narrative progression are told through item descriptions, sparsely littered cutscenes, and largely incongruent dialogue between the player and the game's eccentric cast of non-player characters. It makes lore hunting an integral part of any and all of the studio's titles, to much of their core player-base's enjoyment.

It is important to detail the way in which Elden Ring's story is presented in the game, as getting a wholistic idea of the story requires anywhere from 60-100 hours of gameplay and countless YouTube explanations, lore deep dives, and theory crafting. Some people may consider this categorically bad story telling, others consider it to offer a irreplicable sense of immersion; if you were dropped on your ass butt-naked and confused in a world you never heard of but had to navigate, you'd quickly become any combination of archeologist/anthropologist/garbologist to figure out what exactly, the fuck, is going on and what, if anything, you have to do with it.

This is less-so about Elden Ring as a game and more about the title as an intellectual property, and what it's led to in the last month in the wake of its gargantuan impact on pop culture. 

In December of 2024, 22 months after Elden Ring's initial release (and 16 months after its similarly successful expansion, Shadow of The Erdtree), FromSoftware would announce a stand alone spin-off title at that years' Game Awards. Titled Elden Ring Nightreign, the game would repurpose the main title's setting of The Lands Between and assets to plunge players into a fully multiplayer engagement, a first for the studio. Encouraging three-player co-op, and implementing rogue-like elements to incentivize and promote replayability, Nightreign promised to be an intriguing return to the world of Elden Ring.

Nightreign released this past week on May 30th to a 2 million unit opening day. Its relatively middling reviews and controversy sparked over a lack of in-game chat option for parties assembled by random-matchmaking be damned; FromSoftware faithful had once again eagerly unsheathed their swords to defend The Land Between. I've spent the last few days playing it myself, as someone who generally steers away from both rogue-likes and multiplayer only titles, I have had a properly engaging and moreish experience so far. It has its kinks and quirks, considering it's the studios first foray into the multiplayer space, I'm willing to be merciful towards its gravest offenses.

Comfortably, I can say that Nightreign does suffer from an inability to communicate and coordinate with players met in online match-making, I can't remember how many times I'd been unable to appropriately inform my fellow Nightfarers (what the game calls the players) of items or weapons they could use, or if a giant Cerberus-esque demon-dog was about to chew on their ass like milkbone (it was me, I was the fellow Nightfarer whose ass was getting torn up by the hell hound). It was frustrating to not be able to yell "YO. HE SNEAKIN UP ON YOU" while my teammate was trying to revive our third. Moreover, and this is more of a other people issue than it is for me, you largely cannot approach this game with one or two people, the game is exclusively balanced for three player teams, making solo runs 3 times more difficult than they would be otherwise, you also cannot queue as two people; you would have to have a 3rd person disconnect or willingly drop out after loading into an "expedition".

(Each "expedition" is a 3 day excursion into Nightreign's interpretation of The Lands Between, here called Limveld. Players have 2 days to defeat enemies and stockpile resources of increasing quality as time passes before facing the "main boss" on day 3. The boss is selected before the expedition, and thus the only guaranteed encounter of that expedition. If you lose, you are sent back to the "lobby" to retry retaining none of what was gathered during the expedition. If you win, you unlock a new boss for your next expedition. To my knowledge, there are 10 or 11 bosses in total, you can replay expeditions you've already beat whenever you want. Each run is about 40 minutes or so).

The good thing about these issues is that, unlike Bungie's upcoming extraction shooter Marathon, these are not core issues. They can (and I imagine, will) be addressed in time. However, it will not spare the game from being severely review bombed by reactionary toddlers. A niche game that was niche for a reason made strides into popular culture and the uninitiated are irate with the difficulty that defined the franchise's niche-ness (shocker, I know). In-game chat will probably be added, and the game may be rebalanced to add solo and duo functionality (though, two days after release I'd already seen someone solo run the entire game, so, *ahem*... git gud? I guess?).

UPDATE: Literally, as I was writing this (7AM EST, 6/2/2025), FromSoftware pushed out an initial patch update to balance the game for solo-queuing. Sure feels good to have a developer that gives a shit in humungous 2025, expect more timely rebalancing and changes as time goes on.

So, to consolidate numbers:

Last month, off the heels of its 2025 Fiscal Report, Bandai Namco confirmed that Elden Ring had amassed 30 million players. Last year, the title's expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, had sold 5 million copies in 3 days. Now, Nightreign has launched to an eye watering 2 Million players. 32 million units across two releases, 37 if you count SOTE as a release (I will not here). This is, to say the least, largely unprecedented, especially for FromSoftware, whose last largest IP was Dark Souls, a trilogy that has reportedly sold 39 million units. It took 14 years for Dark Souls to reach 39 million, it took 3 years for Elden Ring to reach 32. Elden Ring is the 39th best selling game of all time, basically only eclipsed by Call of Duty titles, a collection of Nintendo titles, a myriad of free-to-play titles, Minecraft, and GTA 5. Are you starting to get the picture?

Speaking of picture, you know who does get the picture? Hollywood darling studio A24. They get the picture, many of them. They get the picture so well that their own pictures are frequently critical and commercial successes, overwhelmingly. So it is no surprise that A24 would get their hands on Elden Ring, too. Less than two weeks ago, A24 announced that they had secured the rights to an Elden Ring movie, to be directed by Alex Garland and Executive Produced by George R.R. Martin. This is, without a doubt, A24's stake in the ground. Many of their titles have accrued fanfare for their "do more with less" or "indie" feel. So while A24 is possibly the only studio that wouldn't turn Elden Ring into lowest-common-demominator box office slop, this is still very clearly their attempt at a Lord of The Rings, Harry Potter, or Star Wars.

The obvious question is "Geezaws, why would you insinuate that A24 is going to push a franchise out of this". The obvious answer is: 

> [getting a wholistic idea of the story requires anywhere from 60-100 hours of gameplay].

I have personally toyed around with the idea of an Elden Ring adaptation for a while now. The most important reason being that my mother was a massive Game of Thrones fan, so I always felt like she'd enjoy Elden Ring, though a gamer she is not. Mama Zaws aside, I've also got quite a few friends who never got a chance to play or were never interested in playing Elden Ring, but who would probably enjoy the story all the same. So, yes, for years I've wondered how to adapt the IP. The problem is just how long and grandiose it all is.

To say the game lacks proper exposition is an understatement. Again, most of the narrative details and history are communicated to the player via item descriptions (for example, "Greatsword made of light, modeled after the Elden Ring itself. Forged by King Consort Radagon to proudly symbolize the tenets of the Golden Order").

So now, to understand this sword's history, you need to contend with quite a few open ends:

- Physical items can be made of light through some divine magic or machination

- The Elden Ring is a concept as well a physical item that's features can be replicated

- Who is Radagon?

- What is the Golden Order?

- Why did I get it from some random nameless enemy and not this Radagon guy?

The answer to all of these questions may require hours of finding other objects or engaging with very specific NPCs in a specific order at specific times during the game's progression to advance quest lines. That's besides the hours of theory crafting and contextual conclusions some people have built literal careers off of analyzing (Youtube's VaatiVidya, SmoughTown, and The Tarnished Archaeologist to name a few). Some of these revelations can take hours of gameplay each. You might think "Just skip this dumb sword? Who cares about this sword? Just tell the story of the Elden Ring", however, while this particular sword doesn't have monumental implications on the story, Radagon does, and his entire story is told through item descriptions; he is a character you basically never meet, but who looms over the world fiercely. There are 36 NPC specific quest lines in the base game, 12 more in SOTE, all of which can take hours, all of which intertwine to tell the game's complete story. If you wanted to axe all of the periphery and just tell the story of the main character, that get's way too complicated. There are 6 endings in the game that are procured through what quest lines you finish, none are considered cannon, but any of them could be. There is no "main story", and even if there was, the main story would look something like this:

> Character wakes up

> Random woman inexplicably tells him he needs to deal with a giant tree

> Character fights

> Character fights again

> Character fights a few more times in a few more regions

> One of the fights lets the random woman become a pyromancer

> The woman can now burn down the tree

> Character becomes Lord

> End.

Not a great movie, quite garbage, actually. 

The most incredulous part of this entire endeavor is that arguably Elden Ring's most famous adversary, Malenia, is completely optional. Completely. So completely optional, in fact, that you can achieve all 6 endings without seeing her, much less fighting her. In my mind, there's no way A24 adapts the story in her absence, she's that popular. So, pick an ending, pick certain characters, tell a hyper specific telling of the game. Fine, but which ones do you choose? Moreover, which ones do you choose to not piss off the fanbase?

Initially, my thought of an adaptation would've been a long running TV show, 10-odd seasons. However, given the scale of the source material, this easily could've been the most expensive TV show of all time, between set design, costuming, and CGI. My next idea was an animated show, which is probably the easiest way to go about it. However, animated properties reliably make way less money than live action, so I understand the disincentive.

All of this is to say, A24 has a nuclear bomb of an IP on their hands, and I do not mean that as a solely positive sentiment. They have an obligation to make good on one of the most popular IPs in gaming. They have to contend with "games don't make good movies", they have to contend with their most expensive project to date, they have to contend with scores of hours of content, but if they pull this off somehow, they might just be able to bankroll and reap the rewards of the most successful high fantasy project since Lord of The Rings. In 2025, that is a tall order.

Elden Ring has performed better than FromSoftware's wildest imaginations, I imagine much to the bemusement of their publisher, and at a time, much to the chagrin of their competitors. A niche $60 game was spun off into a niche $40 expansion and niche $40 stand alone multiplayer game in the span of 3 years and every single one of the releases made back their development costs in their opening week. I have to imagine A24 is prepared to pour their financial reserves into a true adaptation to reap the same rewards. In truth, it absolutely could. However, if they fail to condense that much content into a handful of 2 hour films, they could fail spectacularly. Development costs aside, I can't even imagine what the licensing fee was.

So, A24 finds themselves, humorously, in the same greaves as Elden Ring's own main character, potentially in over their heads but determined to beat the odds in the face of intense adversity. In the words of one of the game's main bosses, they are "emboldened by the flames of ambition," though I hope their flame is not extinguished.

If this movie hits, and that is a huge if, Elden Ring may become the house hold name it was never initially intended to be. With GRRM attached its already had its toes in pop culture headlines, but with box office domination on its resume it may become one of the most recognizable titles in history.

We're years away from the movie materializing, but if we're to use the rapidity with which SOTE and Nightreign were released, we can probably imagine that A24 is eager to capitalize in a timely manner.