So, everyone is buzzing about Elden Ring Nightreign. It’s basically the weirdest, most exciting thing FromSoftware has done in years. Honestly, when they first dropped the teaser, half the community thought it was just another expansion like Shadow of the Erdtree. But it’s not. It’s a standalone co-op survival thing.
The Elden Ring Nightreign beta test—or the "Network Test," if you want to be formal—was the first time we actually got to see if this "roguelike" experiment even worked.
I've been digging through the technical notes and the player feedback from those four days in February. People were frantic. Servers were melting. It was a classic FromSoft launch, but with a twist: you weren't alone. You had two friends (or strangers) screaming in your ear while a three-headed beast named Gladius tried to erase your existence.
The Reality of the Elden Ring Nightreign Beta Test
Most people think the beta was just a demo. It wasn't.
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FromSoftware used those sessions to see if their servers could handle three players exploring a procedurally generated version of Limgrave called Limveld. It’s a "transitory land," which is basically Miyazaki-speak for "everything here wants to kill you, and also the floor might change next time you visit."
The test ran across five sessions between February 14 and February 17, 2025. If you weren't on a PlayStation 5 or an Xbox Series X/S, you were out of luck. PC players had to sit this one out, which caused a predictable amount of salt on Reddit.
What actually happened in the sessions?
Each session lasted exactly three hours. That sounds like a lot, but in "FromSoft time," that’s barely enough to figure out which end of the sword to hold.
- The Loop: You pick one of eight "Nightfarers." In the beta, we had access to characters like Wylder (the knight with a grappling hook) and the Guardian.
- The Timer: You have two in-game days to prep.
- The Nightlords: If you don't defeat the regional commanders, the "Nightlord" shows up and basically ends your run.
The biggest shock? The difficulty. A lot of players jumped in thinking it would be a power trip. Instead, they got humbled by the "Deep of Night" mechanics. When the sun goes down in Limveld, the game turns into a horror movie. A fog called the Ring of Reign starts closing in—very battle royale, but instead of a blue circle, it’s a wall of literal death that forces you into a boss arena.
Why the Beta Sign-Ups Were a Total Mess
If you tried to get into the Elden Ring Nightreign beta test, you know the "lottery" was brutal.
Registrations opened in early January 2025 and closed on the 20th. You had to go to the Bandai Namco site, link your account, and answer a bunch of questions about whether you’d played Dark Souls or the original Elden Ring.
There's this weird theory that if you said you'd played all the previous games, you had a better chance. Honestly? It felt random. On January 30, the "Chosen" got their emails. The rest of us just refreshed our inboxes until we hit a wall of despair.
The technical hurdles
The beta was specifically for "network load testing."
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Because the game lacks traditional crossplay (you can play between PS4 and PS5, but not between PlayStation and Xbox), the devs needed to see how the peer-to-peer connections held up. It wasn't always pretty.
Lag was a massive issue. Imagine trying to parry a boss when your teammate in another country has a 300ms ping. It’s impossible. This is why FromSoftware has been pushing out patches like Version 1.03.2 recently—they're still fixing the balance issues they found during those few days in February.
The "Forsaken Hollows" and the Future
Since the beta, the game officially launched on May 30, 2025.
But here’s the thing: the beta only showed us about 40% of the map. It felt huge at the time, but the full release and the subsequent Forsaken Hollows DLC (which dropped in December 2025) proved that Limveld is way more complex than just a "warped Limgrave."
There was a lot of drama recently because the parent company, Kadokawa, mentioned in a financial report that more content is coming by March 2026. Some players felt "robbed" because they thought the Deluxe Edition content would arrive sooner.
"We are aiming for further sales growth for Elden Ring Nightreign... FromSoftware is currently developing DLC planned for release in FY2025."
That "FY2025" bit caused a massive translation meltdown. In Japan, the fiscal year ends in March. Western players saw "2025" and expected it by Christmas. This is why you see so many "Mostly Negative" reviews on Steam right now—not because the game is bad, but because people are impatient for the next expansion.
Is the Beta Still Relevant Today?
You might wonder why we're still talking about a test that happened a year ago.
Basically, the beta set the "meta." It’s where players discovered that Wylder’s grappling hook wasn't just for movement—it’s the best tool for interrupting boss casts. It’s where we learned that the Raider is a beast in 3-player co-op but kind of a glass cannon if you’re playing solo.
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If you’re just jumping into the game now, you’re playing a much more polished version than what we saw in the Elden Ring Nightreign beta test. They’ve buffed the Guardian’s damage negation and fixed the weird bug where the Duchess’s "Restage" skill would make her invisible to her own teammates.
Actionable insights for new players:
- Don't ignore the Relics: In the beta, people treated them like an afterthought. Now we know they’re the core of your permanent progression.
- Ping is everything: If you're playing with friends, make sure the person with the most stable internet is the host. The netcode has improved, but it's still sensitive.
- Master the Day/Night cycle: Use the daytime to farm Runes and gather maps. Don't wander into the forests at night unless you're ready for a total wipe.
- Watch the patches: Version 1.03.2 just dropped today (January 15, 2026). It buffed the Raider and adjusted the Scholar's "Analyse" skill. Check your build.
If you missed the beta, don't sweat it. The game has evolved so much since then that those early builds feel like a fever dream. The real challenge now is surviving the Deep of Night mode and waiting for that final DLC to drop in March. Keep your weapons sharp and your flask full.
Next Steps for Players:
Check your current game version to ensure you have the 1.03.2 update installed, as it significantly rebalances the Raider and Guardian classes. If you're struggling with the current endgame, revisit the Roundtable Hold to exchange your accumulated Murk for the newly buffed Relic Rites, which now offer better scaling for solo players.