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Leaked off-screen trailer of Elden Ring is legit - but no one has a link

Barakov

Gold Member
This Is Fine GIF
 
oh, Just conjecture that the devs themselves are on record stating almost no staff were shared between BB and DS 3
just a coincidence that Sekiro began development in late 2015, immediately after the release of BB's final DLC and during the development of DS 3
just a coincidence that the lead game designer on Bloodbourne was the director alongside miyazaki on Sekiro
just a coincidence both Sekiro and BB push the same aggressive game mechanics
just a coincidence that Elden ring began development in early 2017 following the release of DS 3's final DLC and during the development of Sekiro
just a coincidence the leaks of Elden Ring look exactly like an open world darksouls 4

I guess I just pulled all this out my ass and this is all unrelated bullshit because it makes more sense for a game studio to randomly pull massive amounts of staff away from their projects mid development to go work on other games. The prevailing narrative must be correct because after all, how could hype be wrong? My emotions must be validated.

Yet none of that actually says anything about who is currently working on Elden Ring. Sekiro released over two years ago. Those devs have been working on what, exactly? I don't know and you don't either. Conjecture.
 

Spaceman292

Banned
I hear Activision bought the rights to Elden Ring and have now put Toys for Bob as the main developer on it with FromSoft being relegated to just a support studio and battlepass content. Game comes out in April 2023, enjoy!
Damn From Software are going to pump out some bangin COD maps
 

Spacefish

Member
Yet none of that actually says anything about who is currently working on Elden Ring. Sekiro released over two years ago. Those devs have been working on what, exactly? I don't know and you don't either. Conjecture.
It says that the development of Elden Ring was very likely started in one teams hands, games aren't routinely thrown to a completely different team mid dev so the vast majority of them are probably still working on it. You are now positing a further, less believable conjecture that they either swapped teams or another team has been brought on for support with no verifiable evidence. My opinion is that they wouldn't do something like that unless the game was in absolute shambles, you hear over and over of studios as high profile as naughtydog trying and failing to become a two game studio to get away from the risk of relying on one big hitter, I don't see a studio who has successfully solved that very difficult problem intentionally regressing.

Almost everything we discuss about this game is conjecture, I outlined why I think the way I do. Nobody disagreeing with me ever sources the origin of their own conjecture. Seems perfectly reasonable to control your hype unless you really love DS 2 - 3, in which case you should continue being very excited.
 
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It says that the development of Elden Ring was very likely started in one teams hands, games aren't routinely thrown to a completely different team mid dev so the vast majority of them are probably still working on it. You are now positing a further, less believable conjecture that they either swapped teams or another team has been brought on for support with no verifiable evidence. My opinion is that they wouldn't do something like that unless the game was in absolute shambles, you hear over and over of studios as high profile as naughtydog trying and failing to become a two game studio to get away from the risk of relying on one big hitter, I don't see a studio who has successfully solved that very difficult problem intentionally regressing.

Almost everything we discuss about this game is conjecture, I outlined why I think the way I do. Nobody disagreeing with me ever sources the origin of their own conjecture. Seems perfectly reasonable to control your hype unless you really love DS 2 - 3, in which case you should continue being very excited.

Good. So we agree that it's all conjecture. Mine is simple: this is the biggest game they've ever made. Sekiro released over two years ago and there hasn't even been a single rumor as to what those people are doing. 🤔 🤔 🤔 🤔 🤔
 

Spacefish

Member
Good. So we agree that it's all conjecture. Mine is simple: this is the biggest game they've ever made. Sekiro released over two years ago and there hasn't even been a single rumor as to what those people are doing. 🤔 🤔 🤔 🤔 🤔
ok, so we agree that you believe what you do because you're emotionally attached to the hype and I believe what I do because I researched it for a few minutes and found some data.

Almost every new game any developer makes is their biggest game they ever made, I'm sure that same argument was made for both DS 2 and 3. I don't know why you would expect rumours of what their new game is going to be after only 2 years development. These arguments remind me of conversations with religious fanatics as a kid.
 
ok, so we agree that you believe what you do because you're emotionally attached to the hype and I believe what I do because I researched it for a few minutes and found some data.

Almost every new game any developer makes is their biggest game they ever made, I'm sure that same argument was made for both DS 2 and 3. I don't know why you would expect rumours of what their new game is going to be after only 2 years development. These arguments remind me of conversations with religious fanatics as a kid.

There's only one person who appears to be emotionally attached to anything here and that's you to this stupid argument. I have no idea why you're so bent out of shape.
 

Spacefish

Member
the argument is about something stupid but you failed to convince me its a stupid argument, I'm not bend out of shape over anything, you choose to engage and I like having pointless arguments, clearly or I wouldn't be hanging out on a videogame forum.
 
the argument is about something stupid but you failed to convince me its a stupid argument, I'm not bend out of shape over anything, you choose to engage and I like having pointless arguments, clearly or I wouldn't be hanging out on a videogame forum.

Protip: your pointless arguments will be more enjoyable if you don't act like a dick while having them.
 

Okamiden

Member
There isn't a single development studio on earth who would intentionally regress to a 1 game studio, that makes absolutely no business sense.
That's exactly what Naughty Dog did after lackluster outcome with Uncharted 3 and cancelled version of U4 developed by Hennig team. And they had one team for U4 and TLoU2 since.
 

Spacefish

Member
Protip: your pointless arguments will be more enjoyable if you don't act like a dick while having them.
you don't know what I enjoy, maybe I like being a smug prick when arguing about toys, I'm not here to be your friend. Also, thanks for the tone policing.

That's exactly what Naughty Dog did after lackluster outcome with Uncharted 3 and cancelled version of U4 developed by Hennig team. And they had one team for U4 and TLoU2 since.
that's my point, it wasn't the optimal or preferred choice It was the result of a failure to build a successful second team. FROM has already succeeded in building an efficient, financial and critically successful parallel dev cycle, It makes no sense to collapse it unless their game is struggling and their entire future depends on its success.
 
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you don't know what I enjoy, maybe I like being a smug prick when arguing about toys, I'm not here to be your friend. Also, thanks for the tone policing.

I'm just calling a spade a spade. If you want to be an ignorant fool and assume that everyone who disagrees with you must be doing so because they are a fanboy, have at it. If you want to be a dick and say it out loud, I'm going to tell you that you're being a dick.
 

Spacefish

Member
I'm just calling a spade a spade. If you want to be an ignorant fool and assume that everyone who disagrees with you must be doing so because they are a fanboy, have at it. If you want to be a dick and say it out loud, I'm going to tell you that you're being a dick.
when someone ignores 95% of the things I'm saying and instead chooses to argue over how I'm saying it I take that as a concession. I'm going to call a spade a spade too, if your worldview is being constructed based on what we don't know rather than what we do then you're acting like a religious fanatic or in what we call in our industry a fanboy.
 
when someone ignores 95% of the things I'm saying and instead chooses to argue over how I'm saying it I take that as a concession. I'm going to call a spade a spade too, if your worldview is being constructed based on what we don't know rather than what we do then you're acting like a religious fanatic or in what we call in our industry a fanboy.

Okay, dick. :messenger_ok:
 

DeaconOfTheDank

Gold Member
oh, Just conjecture that the devs themselves are on record stating almost no staff were shared between BB and DS 3
just a coincidence that Sekiro began development in late 2015, immediately after the release of BB's final DLC and during the development of DS 3
just a coincidence that the lead game designer on Bloodbourne was the director alongside miyazaki on Sekiro
just a coincidence both Sekiro and BB push the same aggressive game mechanics
just a coincidence that Elden ring began development in early 2017 following the release of DS 3's final DLC and during the development of Sekiro
just a coincidence the leaks of Elden Ring look exactly like an open world darksouls 4

I guess I just pulled all this out my ass and this is all unrelated bullshit because it makes more sense for a game studio to randomly pull massive amounts of staff away from their projects mid development to go work on other games. The prevailing narrative must be correct because after all, how could hype be wrong? My emotions must be validated.
You're right that the same team that worked on Bloodborne went off to create Sekiro. I believe they also were the main group behind DS1 and possibly DeS (I can try to find a source for this later). You're also right that FromSoftware has multiple dev teams in order to execute on their "3.5 project" pipeline.


Based off of the article, we know that there are 3 games in pipeline as of 2016:
  1. Dark fantasy ARPG - My money is on Elden Ring
  2. A reboot - This could be either Sekiro or Armored Core. I would say Sekiro because Miyazaki has called it a "spiritual successor" to Tenchu on multiple occasions.
  3. Something weird, a bit different - Most likely Deracine. It was FromSoftware's first time in VR and UE4 was adopted rather than their in-house engine.
Fast forward to 2019, and 2 of the projects have already been revealed (Sekiro and Deracine). What's more, the pipeline has expanded to "3.5" projects:


This article confirms the existence of 2 "unannounced" titles; Elden Ring is one and I would consider the other to be an Armored Core game. Miyazaki keeps bringing it up in interviews.


Alright, so we've established what all FromSoftware is most likely working on at the moment - Armored Core and Elden Ring. How does this relate to what teams are working on what project? Well, in my opinion, it all depends on which project is considered a new IP and is beyond a small experiment like Deracine.

Usually the "A" team - those that worked on DS1, BB, Sekiro - are those that work on new IPs. I think many would agree that new IPs are very risky. Elden Ring would qualify as a massive new IP that FromSoftware needs to bring their "A" game on.

Not only has Bamco thrown a ton of money at FromSoftware, they also have huge names tied to it (Martin and Miyazaki). What's more, the pandemic has extended timelines quite a bit and I imagine pressure is mounting to satisfy publishers. Needless to say, expectations are high. Seriously, Elden Ring beat out Horizon: Forbidden West and God of War: Ragnarok for most anticipated title at TGA 2020. This is not something FromSoftware would dick around on.

I would agree that the DS2 + DS3 team most likely started pre-production, but the Sekiro and Deracine teams hopped on after completing development of their projects. The Armored Core team is probably still in pre-production and I wouldn't be surprised if priority has shifted such that all hands are on deck for Elden Ring.

ok, so we agree that you believe what you do because you're emotionally attached to the hype and I believe what I do because I researched it for a few minutes and found some data.

Almost every new game any developer makes is their biggest game they ever made, I'm sure that same argument was made for both DS 2 and 3. I don't know why you would expect rumours of what their new game is going to be after only 2 years development. These arguments remind me of conversations with religious fanatics as a kid.

Coming directly from Phil Spencer, Elden Ring is "clearly the most ambitious game" for FromSoftware:

 

Spacefish

Member
Not only has Bamco thrown a ton of money at FromSoftware, they also have huge names tied to it (Martin and Miyazaki). What's more, the pandemic has extended timelines quite a bit and I imagine pressure is mounting to satisfy publishers. Needless to say, expectations are high. Seriously, Elden Ring beat out Horizon: Forbidden West and God of War: Ragnarok for most anticipated title at TGA 2020. This is not something FromSoftware would dick around on.

I would agree that the DS2 + DS3 team most likely started pre-production, but the Sekiro and Deracine teams hopped on after completing development of their projects. The Armored Core team is probably still in pre-production and I wouldn't be surprised if priority has shifted such that all hands are on deck for Elden Ring.
I can see merit in this point of view, the non stop escalation in expectations for Elden ring and the shiny AAA DE remake may have spooked them a little, possibly caused some rearrangement of resources. Though I still think it makes more sense for them to put the core "A" team on something totally new where creative control is higher and that expertise is needed, even reviving AC seems like a job that would make better use of their talent than ER.

I always saw the dark souls sequel squad as the safe money makers. My interpretation of eldenring was up in the air till I saw the leaks and then I realised it was probably a continuation under a new name to prevent series fatigue from degrading sales (the devs probably wanted something more interesting to work on too). The GRRM tie in came across as more of a marketing push than something substantial which goes in line with DS sequels and now ER being the big money makers. Miyazaki has his name over every major project since the negative press DS 2 received, due in part to his perceived absence. I also see his name as more of a marketing thing these days, (especially after DS 3) he'll probably "co-direct" every new game till a new name arises with as much cache. I'm willing to admit this stuff is way more speculative than my earlier comments.

I also have that suspicion that the guys who were responsible for making DE, DS1, BB and Sekiro so good are mostly the same set of people, my hype for any new FROM game depends on what they are working on. For now I'm still thinking it's something else so I'm saving my hype for whatever comes after Elden ring.
 

DeaconOfTheDank

Gold Member
I always saw the dark souls sequel squad as the safe money makers. My interpretation of eldenring was up in the air till I saw the leaks and then I realised it was probably a continuation under a new name to prevent series fatigue from degrading sales (the devs probably wanted something more interesting to work on too). The GRRM tie in came across as more of a marketing push than something substantial which goes in line with DS sequels and now ER being the big money makers. Miyazaki has his name over every major project since the negative press DS 2 received, due in part to his perceived absence. I also see his name as more of a marketing thing these days, (especially after DS 3) he'll probably "co-direct" every new game till a new name arises with as much cache. I'm willing to admit this stuff is way more speculative than my earlier comments.
Oh they're definitely using Martin and Miyazaki's names for a marketing lol. It's like when people assume that any game Kojima directs will be automatically golden and then we face the awkward reality of Death Stranding (which I enjoyed).

I personally believe that FromSoftware is at its best when creating new IPs. Miyazaki also has a huge aversion to creating sequels so directing new IPs is his forte. As for Dark Souls and Elden Ring being similar, I would argue that this is based on surface-level details. Any dark fantasy ARPG that FromSoftware produces will undoubtedly draw comparisons to Dark Souls largely due to using the same in-house engine, same concept artists, and shared gameplay mechanics. I expect a lot of the added mechanics in Sekiro - namely swimming, jumping, stealth, vertical level traversal - will add some fresh gameplay among other things.

As for the world setting, tone, atmosphere what have you, that's where Martin comes in. Miyazaki was hoping to imbue the game with a different feel and so he pushed to have someone else develop the lore.

As a personal anecdote, when seeing Bloodborne for the first time, I personally thought "Victorian Dark Souls"... but it ended up being so much more than that. The lore, atmosphere, OST, interesting NPCs, enemy design, and subtle tweaks to gameplay (aggressive vs passive combat) lended itself to an entirely different experience. I'm hoping this is the case with Elden Ring.

I also have that suspicion that the guys who were responsible for making DE, DS1, BB and Sekiro so good are mostly the same set of people, my hype for any new FROM game depends on what they are working on. For now I'm still thinking it's something else so I'm saving my hype for whatever comes after Elden ring.
While still based on my thoughts above, here is where it delves into more speculation. While the leaked trailer was definitely looking like more of what we have to expect of Souls-style gameplay, I believe that is the IP to be hyped for. I would suggest holding off on dismissing the title until we have an official trailer.

I hope we see it at E3.
 
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