Issues with duo play, technical limits, and pacing left many fans unsettled despite soaring player counts.
Elden Ring: Nightreign has made a massive impact on Steam, but not all of it is positive. While player numbers are climbing fast, hitting more than 300,000 concurrent players in less than an hour after launch, user reviews are proving far more divisive, making this one of the lowest-rated FromSoftware titles on the platform in the past 16 years.
At launch, Nightreign held a ‘Mostly Positive’ score of just 73%–a surprising result for a studio known for its critically acclaimed hits. In fact, it’s the second-lowest rating under the FromSoftware Inc. tag on Steam. Only Dark Souls III’s Ashes of Ariandel DLC has scored lower, sitting at a ‘Mixed’ 59%.
As of writing, about less than 24 hours in, Elden Ring: Nightreign holds a “Mixed” rating on Steam, with 64% of reviews marked as positive.
Why did Elden Ring: Nightreign get mixed reviews?
This mixed reception seems to come down to a few recurring issues. One major complaint is the lack of duo support. Players can take on Nightreign alone or in a group of three, but those looking to team up as a pair are out of luck.
Many, like Steam users Hishamm and Vahit Horoz, pointed out that playing solo and being grouped with two other players has been quite challenging without voice chat, a recurring feedback from many other Steam players.
This was acknowledged by the game directors in an interview with IGN on 23 May, saying that they may have overlooked this during development. However, FromSoftware has acknowledged the gap and said it may be added in a future update.
There’s also frustration around the game’s technical limitations. Nightreign doesn’t support ultrawide displays and is locked at 60fps, something many PC players aren’t willing to accept in 2025. Poor keyboard and mouse controls have also been flagged as a problem, although that’s something controller users can mostly avoid. Steam user Mxiden was among those who complained about the lack of these features, with others echoing the same sentiment, saying that these made the game feel like something that should have been “a ten-dollar DLC” or a “community mod.”
Not all the negative feedback stems from bugs or missing features—some players simply haven’t connected with Nightreign’s direction. Steam user Venvetta, for example, felt there was hardly any time to explore before a boss suddenly appeared. As someone who enjoys both Souls games and roguelikes, they described Nightreign as a "weird middle-ground" that doesn’t quite satisfy solo players who prefer to take their time. They added that the game would be "immensely more fun with better single-player balancing and a longer timer before the ring starts closing."
Others simply called the game “Zoomer ER [Elden Ring)” because of how the game is played, compared to other Souls-likes.
Even so, Nightreign’s player count continues to surge. It has already surpassed the combined peak concurrent players of all three Dark Souls games on Steam. If FromSoftware addresses the concerns with meaningful updates and key feature additions, there’s still potential for the game to receive better reviews down the line.
