With the Elden Ring anniversary right around the corner, talk of potential DLC for FromSoftware’s open-world game is bigger than ever. But what about all the other Soulslikes in development? They’re sure to satiate the hunger for more of the genre, and one Lords of the Fallen developer has now noted that, when Elden Ring first came out, they realised they accidentally have a lot of the same ideas as FromSoftware.
The developer in question is HexWorks, who is working on sequel / reboot The Lords of The Fallen, a follow-up to 2014’s confusingly named Lords of The Fallen. HexWorks hasn’t done anything wrong here, it just appears to be a case of rather unfortunate parallel thought that had the team head-in-hands when Elden Ring was revealed.
“Our breakthrough weapon, the flail, was showcased in the Elden Ring trailer, and that killed us inside,” The Lords of The Fallen creative director Cezar Virtosu says. “And we saw that one of our bosses was nearly identical to Malenia,” he adds, which must have really been a kick in the teeth.
While the coincidences are certainly unfortunate HexWorks seems to have taken it in stride, even though Elden Ring has created some specific expectations for The Lords of The Fallen. “There is some pressure, as you can imagine,” Virtosu tells Edge (via GamesRadar). “People have asked, ‘Do you guys have horse combat? Do you have an open world?’”
While this isn’t the type of pressure and expectation any RPG game developers want, coming up directly against the success of a studio like FromSoftware and Elden Ring, Virtosu recognises that HexWorks wouldn’t even be making The Lords of The Fallen right now if not for the popularisation of the Soulslike.
“Miyazaki is our daddy and our grandaddy. Without him, we wouldn’t have any jobs,” Virtosu explains. Virtosu even recently apologised for Marvel’s Avengers, as he was leading one of the live service game’s co-development studios.
If you’re jumping back into Elden Ring ahead of the game’s anniversary and the release of The Lords of The Fallen later this year, we’ve got your back with plenty of guides. From the best Elden Ring weapons to essential Elden Ring builds, we can help make exploring The Lands Between feel as safe as possible.
