Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is just barely in the rearview mirror and FromSoftware already has a new game in the wings. The first trailer for Elden Ring Nightreign, a standalone co-op action game, at The Game Awards 2024.

As it's name and the trailer suggests, Nightreign is set in the same world, and quite possible the same map as Elden Ring, but transformed with new enemies and bosses. More importantly, it looks like you'll be able to tackle it with a party of two other axe, magic, and sword-wielding friends. FromSoftware's announcement says the game will carry over the weapons and enemies of Elden Ring but remix the rest. The game is structured in three day chunks, with the most difficult bosses, "Nightlords," arriving on the third day for you and your friends to fight. Beyond that, it sounds like the map could change, each time you play, making each three day session different.

Multiplayer isn't a new concept for FromSoftware. Demon Souls, multiple Dark Souls entries, and Elden Ring all allow for some kind of co-op multiplayer if you need to summon a friend in for a particularly difficult boss fight. Playing a game were you get to run around the open world with friends, seemingly with a much greater ability to jump and run around based on the trailer, would feel very different.

Elden Ring Nightreign is coming to PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC in 2025. After the Game Awards event, publisher Bandai Namco announced that a closed network test will take place in February. Selected testers will be able to "play a portion of the game" prior to its full launch in exchange for helping load test the game's servers. You may want to mark your calendars for January 10, when registration for that network test opens up, as space on closed tests like this is often limited.

Update, December 13, 12:50PM ET: This story was updated after publish to include details on the planned Elden Ring Nightreign network test.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/elden-ring-nightreign-is-a-co-op-spinoff-coming-in-2025-015211308.html?src=rss

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There are a bunch of Black Friday deals on PlayStation products, but here's one that was perhaps a little unexpected. The PS5 Access controller has dropped to $59, which is a record low price. It's slightly over a third off the list price of $90.

Sony created this controller to make the PlayStation 5 more accessible to a wider group of players. It released the Access controller last December.

The Access controller comes with 19 button caps and three stick caps to help players find a configuration that works best for them. A button cap that takes up two sockets might be a better fit for someone compared with the standard one, for instance. There are 23 swappable tags for the button caps to help players identify which input they've mapped to each button. In addition, there are four 3.5mm aux ports, into which players can plug external buttons, switches and other accessories.

It's possible to create as many as 30 profiles with different button and stick settings. Buttons can be disabled to avoid accidental presses too. Meanwhile, there's the option to pair up to two Access controllers and a standard DualSense together as one virtual controller. That way, as many as three people could control the same character, meaning that loved ones and caregivers can offer some direct assistance to those playing the games.

Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-ps5-access-controller-is-on-sale-in-a-black-friday-playstation-deal-174747478.html?src=rss

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