Wahey, Elden Ring Nightreign is getting a network test that'll let you play a bit of it early next year, and you can sign up very soon
You'll just be helping the devs make sure everything works as intended, but it's still cool.
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Elden Ring Nightreign was one of the big healines at The Game Awards yesterday, as you'd expect from anything with FromSoftware's critically-acclaimed fingertips. Now, Bandai Namco has revealed that it'll be getting a network test early next year, with sign-ups starting in January.
If you somehow missed Nightreign being announced, it's a co-op focussed title that will allow multiple players to take on bosses from the FromSofftverse in collaborative environments. So yup, Elden Ring with your mates in a form that's not just leaving each other cheeky notes and occasionally invading to help out with a particular fight or muck s**t up.
This new game is sert to release at some point in 2025, and it'll be getting a network test not long after the calendar flips over into the new year.
The test's been penned in for February 2025, and registration for it will start from January 10, so you've really not got long to wait to try your luck at being one of those selected. Only the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S are mentioned as platforms for the test though, which means you're seemingly outta luck if you're on PC or last-gen consoles.
What'll you be doing if you do get in? Well, Bandai writes: "The network test is a preliminary verification test in which the selected testers play a portion of the game prior to the full game launch. Various technical verifications of online systems will be examined by conducting large-scale network load tests."
If it helps, just think of those technical bits as the bosses you're fighting while your're battling bosses, with network stability for the full release being the big reward you get for slaying them. You can call it an 'aura of stable network load' if that doesn't sound fancy enough when you brag to your mates about having procured it.
For more Elden Ring chatter, make sure to check out what Sony recently said when it confirmed its interest in buying FromSoftware parent company Kadokawa.