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Elden Ring: The Game: Players, Fromsoftware, and Souls

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Published 4 Sep 2026

Meet the world of Elden Ring, learn how the game works, and see how its writers and studio created it.

Two adults in a sunlit Tokyo game studio look out a large window toward a misty golden fantasy plateau with distant soft ruins and a glowing abstract ring-shaped motif; unmarked storyboard cards and small original clay figurines rest on the desk, hands hidden.

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Introduction

the of Ring, how the , and how its and it.

Before you begin

Warm-up

What do you know about Elden Ring?
Do you enjoy games with a large world?
Who helps to create a video game?

An adult woman in a peach cardigan stands at a golden-hour meadow path watching a lone original traveler toward distant towers, with an unmarked map scroll, a wooden practice sword, and a soft glowing skill ember nearby; hands in pockets.

Reading

Part 1: What kind of game is it?

Elden is a 2022 . In this , you a , explore, , and .

, a , its . the outside , while it in .

, the of , the . The out on 25 2022. could it on 4, 5, , , and /.

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Check: Part 1: What kind of game is it?

1. What kind of game is Elden Ring, and which studio made it?

Sample answer

Elden Ring is an action RPG made by FromSoftware, a game studio in Tokyo.

Reading

Part 2: Exploring the world

The Between is the of Elden . It is an , so have to and where to .

You as a , the the is. This is an who is to the and .

is because the is very . You can a . You also and them with or with .

Check your understanding

Check: Part 2: Exploring the world

1. What is the Tarnished trying to do?

Sample answer

The Tarnished is trying to repair the Elden Ring and become Elden Lord.

Think one step further

In a large game world, would you explore freely or follow the main goal first? Why?

An adult man in a moss-green jacket stands beside a sunlit workshop table comparing a narrow cardboard maze corridor model to an open cork landscape board with unmarked tokens and stacked unmarked design notebooks; hands in jacket pockets.

Reading

Part 3: Ideas from earlier games

The game’s to Demon's Souls, an that this . It out in 2009 and and of .

, an , in 2011. Its , and had to of the .

of in 2017, after on for . The to this but it in a with more to .

Check your understanding

Check: Part 3: Ideas from earlier games

1. What important change did FromSoftware want for Elden Ring?

Sample answer

FromSoftware wanted a bigger open world with more room to wander than the narrower paths in Dark Souls.

Reading

Part 4: The director’s role

FromSoftware in 2004, when he was 29. He as a .

, he when the was in and the . He then and of in 2014.

In his , the does not through many . of it in and in the they . This to and of .

Check your understanding

Check: Part 4: The director’s role

1. How do players often discover the story in games directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki?

Sample answer

Players often discover the story through item texts and the places they explore.

Reading

Part 5: Two kinds of writing

. . , the of the for the , had a . him to the of the .

This the a behind the and in the . , did not the or the .

He also did not the that . the and its . the for the that during their .

Check your understanding

Check: Part 5: Two kinds of writing

1. How was George R. R. Martin’s work different from FromSoftware’s work?

Sample answer

Martin wrote the mythic background, while FromSoftware built the game and its play.

An adult woman in a peach cardigan and an adult man in a moss-green jacket stand in a cozy evening living room looking at an unmarked invitation card with abstract gold shapes, a blank wooden award plaque, and a tidy stack of plain game boxes with soft watercolor covers; all hands in pockets.

Reading

Part 6: From announcement to success

Ring was to the at E3 in 2019 and was in 2022. that , it .

The is a that the . On 8 2022, of the there.

It also , , and that . Its to after . By 2025, the had more than 30 .

Check your understanding

Check: Part 6: From announcement to success

1. What major prize did Elden Ring win in December 2022?

Sample answer

Elden Ring won Game of the Year at The Game Awards.

What you can do now

Final Reflection

Which part of Elden Ring's creation sounds most interesting to you, and why?

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Elden Ring: The Game: Players, Fromsoftware, and Souls

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Listening

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Reading

Part 1: What kind of game is it?

Elden Ring is a 2022 action RPG.

In this kind of game, you control a character, explore, fight, and become stronger.

FromSoftware, a Tokyo game studio, led its creation.

Bandai Namco published the game outside Japan, while FromSoftware published it in Japan.

Hidetaka Miyazaki, the director of Elden Ring, directed the project.

The game first came out on 25 February 2022.

People could play it on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

Reading

Part 2: Exploring the world

The Lands Between is the world of Elden Ring.

It is an open world, so players have a lot of room to wander and choose where to go.

You play as a Tarnished, the kind of character the player is.

This character is an exile who is called back to repair the Elden Ring and become Elden Lord.

Travel is important because the world is very large.

You can ride a horse named Torrent.

You also meet enemies and fight them with different weapons or with magic.

Reading

Part 3: Ideas from earlier games

The game’s roots reach back to Demon's Souls, an earlier game that started this style.

It came out in 2009 and made hard fights and death part of learning.

Dark Souls, an earlier FromSoftware hard action game, followed in 2011.

Its areas used narrower paths, and players had to put parts of the story together.

Production of Elden Ring began in early 2017, after work on extra content for Dark Souls III.

The studio wanted to keep this difficult style but place it in a bigger open world with more freedom to wander.

Reading

Part 4: The director’s role

Hidetaka Miyazaki joined FromSoftware in 2004, when he was 29.

He first worked as a game planner.

Later, he took over Demon's Souls when the project was in trouble and helped shape the finished game.

He then directed Dark Souls and became president of FromSoftware in 2014.

In his games, the story often does not arrive through many long movie scenes.

Players find parts of it in short item texts and in the places they visit.

This style asks players to look carefully and connect small pieces of information.

Reading

Part 5: Two kinds of writing

George R.

Martin, the writer of the mythic background for the world, had a special job.

Hidetaka Miyazaki asked him to create the old background of the world.

This gave the team a history behind the people and events in the game.

However, Martin did not design the fights or the open world.

He also did not write the item texts that players read.

FromSoftware built the game and its play.

Miyazaki stayed the lead writer for the story that players meet during their journey.

Reading

Part 6: From announcement to success

Elden Ring was shown to the public at E3 in June 2019 and was released in February 2022.

Later that year, it received major prizes.

The Game Awards is a yearly show that names the year’s best games.

On 8 December 2022, Elden Ring won Game of the Year there.

It also won Best Game Direction, Best Art Direction, and Best Role Playing Game that night.

Its audience continued to grow after release.

By April 2025, the game had sold more than 30 million copies.

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