Elden Ring Nightreign director apologises for not including two-player co-op, but the “overlooked” option may be added after launch

FromSoftware’s multiplayer spin-off Elden Ring Nightreign is almost upon us, but the upcoming Soulsborne game is only playable on your lonesome or in three-player co-op. In a new interview, game director Junya Ishizaki apologised to fans for the complete lack of a two-player mode.

On release, Elden Ring Nightreign will not be playable with two players, but Ishizaki explains that this might be added in a post-launch update. The game director explained that the team simply “overlooked” the desire for this option during development.

Elden Ring Nightreign may add two-player mode

Speaking to IGN, the game designer explained that the “simple answer is that this is simply something that was overlooked during development as just a two-player option, so we’re very sorry about that.”

The team always planned for the game to be designed for three-player squads, saying that it “was the main focus and it’s at the core of Nightreign”. The team designed for three-players “from the start” with the entire game balanced around this team size.

“We did put a lot of effort into creating this experience that was playable for solo players in as much as the rules and new systems allowed,” said Ishizaki. “So in putting all our efforts into that aspect, we kind of overlooked and neglected the duos aspect, but this is something that we are looking at and considering for post-launch support as well.”

The director explained that even in three-player co-op, players will be “generally encouraged” to split off on their own and complete challenges. However, when playing on your lonesome, the “activeness and aggressiveness of enemies towards any one single player has been adjusted so that you don’t find yourself in any unreasonable multi-foe fights.”

A two-player option may be added to Elden Ring Nightreign in a future update to the game, alongside new bosses, enemies, classes and more. FromSoftware has explained that it is dedicated to supporting the game with a healthy amount of post-launch content so hopefully support for more squad sizes is coming.