


Secondly, FromSoftware’s last Souls game release was Dark Souls 3 in April 2016. Martin caused much online buzz before its release, and some writers from the Game of Thrones tv series were also hired to participate in the development of the game. Firstly, the collaboration with George R.R. A major part of the soulslike gameplay challenge is the usage of an in-game experience currency which may be permanently lost or regained between character deaths.įromSoftware is not the only soulslike gaming publisher – the Nioh series, Code Vein (2019), and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2019) are other recent video game titles that deploy similar mechanics of players losing unused in-game experience points between deaths.Įlden Ring was instantly a smash hit on release and there are many factors that caused the title to be immediately popular with gamers. This has led to both criticism and praise in equal measure and saw rise to the soulslike genre, where repeated player character death is expected and part of the gameplay experience. Games by FromSoftware are renowned for their high level of difficulty. This and many other shared concepts, such as similar gameplay mechanics and themes, have led to fans referring to this group of games as “Soulsborne” (a portmanteau of Souls and Bloodborne). The Dark Souls games take place in a dark, medieval fantasy setting – an aspect they share with Elden Ring and FromSoftware’s other major titles Bloodborne and Demon’s Souls. As of May 2020, the Dark Souls series has sold more than 27.5 million units worldwide. Prior to Elden Ring, FromSoftware’s most prominent games were the action role-playing Dark Souls series, which initially saw only niche success before becoming a cult classic years after release. Martin shot to the top of the leading games on Twitch, with 125 million watched hours in that month and an average of 177 thousand concurrent viewers on the streaming platform. The long-awaited partnership between Dark Souls developer FromSoftware and fantasy author George R.R. Just two weeks after its release, Elden Ring sold more than 12 million units worldwide, with one million copies sold exclusively in Japan.

As of March 2023, global unit sales of action RPG Elden Ring stood at 20.5 million units.
