The idea of a multiverse, or of alternate universes, has become so pervasive that it may be hard to explain the idea of a shared universe. But as it turns out, we could be seeing more and more of those shared universes prop up in video games.
If the idea of alternate universes explains how there are three distinct Peter Parkers in Sony’s Spider-Man movies, and the multiverse explains how those three Peters can meet, the shared universe explains how one of those Peters became an Avenger. And for that matter, it explains how the Avengers formed themselves, because each of those comic book characters were originally intended to stand on their own when Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and Steve Ditko first created them.
This notion of a shared universe, shared by different characters from different media meeting up, was really popularized in literature, with examples like Larry Niven’s Known Space universe. Comic book fans may remember the Marvel Universe popularizing this idea, but we would argue that Kirby’s and Lee’s ideas had peers that also contributed in expanding this idea. For example, Fawcett Comics published five Captain Marvel/Shazam comic books to accommodate the Marvel family, before DC copied it for Superman.
But the first time mainstream audiences got a taste of this idea was in the 1940s Universal Monsters movies. After the first batch of movies introduced us to the monsters, the sequels of the next decade invariably brought together Frankenstein’s Monster, the Wolf Man, Dracula, to eat up the scenery, and maybe try to eat each other. The most prominent shared universe in video games today has to be Remedy’s Connected Universe, but now, there appears to be another company who wants to have a crack at it.
As reported by Eurogamer, Elden Ring: Nightreign director Junya Ishizaki has revealed that some Dark Souls enemies will appear in the spinoff. As Ishizaki explained, the Night King’s influence will make it possible for characters from different worlds to appear in Limgrave and give players the challenge they crave. As some gamers keenly observed, the Nameless King was prominent in the announcement trailer. However, on top of that, some also recognized The Centipede Demon, and possibly The Duke’s Dear Freja in the trailer as well.
We aren’t holding our breath for any Raven pilots or Cookie and Cream to come to Elden Ring: Nightreign, but the possibilities for what FromSoftware can bring over can be mind-boggling. They could dip all the way back and give us recognizable enemies from Demon’s Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro for sure. But we see no reason they could bring in deep cuts from the likes of King’s Field, Echo Night, or Otogi.
Indeed, this could shape up to be FromSoftware’s nice little version of Super Smash Bros., or if you want, a Capcom Vs. game. And depending on how well they write it up, FromSoftware could even make this nice little shared universe make sense, to make that shared universe status canonical to all the games.
In any case, what really matters here is if FromSoftware can prove to be up to the task of making a compelling multiplayer co-op experience that will prove sustainable. For that, we’re just going to have to wait and see how Elden Ring: Nightreign turns out.
