Elden Ring Nightreign Launches with 2 Million Players Amid Co-op Limitations

Elden Ring Nightreign, FromSoftware's new cooperative spin-off, launched to strong player numbers with two million players on its first day and a peak of over 313,000 concurrent users on Steam. However, the game's design around three-player teams has drawn criticism due to the absence of a duo mode, leaving pairs unable to play together without a third random teammate, a feature FromSoftware admitted was overlooked during development. Player feedback also highlights the lack of in-game communication tools like voice or text chat, making coordination with random teammates difficult, and the absence of crossplay further complicates playing with friends. While solo play is possible, it is generally considered a challenging experience and less enjoyable compared to playing with friends, exacerbated by limited communication options and no self-revive mechanics. Some control changes from the original Elden Ring, such as altered flask usage and missing crouch functionality, have also caused confusion among returning players. FromSoftware has acknowledged these issues and plans to release patches to improve solo play and address other concerns.