During E3 2019’s Microsoft Briefing, FromSoftware announced Elden Ring, a project in the works as a collaboration between Dark Souls director Hidetaka Miyazaki and A Song of Ice & Fire author George R.R. Martin.

“It all started with me being a fan of Mr. Martin’s works. A Song of Ice & Fire and its drama adaptation Game of Thrones are both masterpieces. I am also very fond of Fever Dreams and Tuf Voyaging.”

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FromSoftware approached Martin for a meeting, but Miyazaki originally did not expect that Martin would be willing to meet him so easily.

“When we sat down together, it clicked right away. I proposed to make a game together, and he said yes. I was really surprised by how smoothly it all went.”

When they first met, Martin was already aware of Dark Souls, but Miyazaki did not ask the author’s thoughts on his worldwide acclaimed video game. However, given the fact that Martin immediately agreed on working together, it can be assumed that respect came from both sides. Miyazaki also mentioned that one of Martin’s staff appeared to be a Dark Souls fan.

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The collaboration started by Miyazaki explaining Elden Ring’s main theme. With a mutual understanding of the game’s concept, Miyazaki wrote the main story while Martin is responsible for the world’s mythology. That means that in typical FromSoftware fashion, the player will be able to unravel Martin’s backstory through fragments of environmental storytelling. Be sure to read all those item descriptions!

Martin is not involved in the writing of Elden Ring’s main story, because Miyazaki believes the format of video game could have limited the potential of his storytelling. According to Miyazaki, both the main story and Martin’s lore are heavily influenced by each other.

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“Thanks to Martin’s lore, Elden Ring’s world and characters naturally have a lot more depth and personality.”

While Miyazaki did not completely rule out a novelization of Martin’s mythology in Elden Ring, no such plans are in the works.

“A novelization would mean that all the secrets and mystery that is hidden in our game would be revealed. From a director point of view, I’m not sure if that would be the right thing to do.” Miyazaki added.

In the same interview with IGN, Miyazaki told us that Elden Ring will be a souls-like game in a more open environment, and that the story is not related to The Lord of the Rings.

Prior to Elden Ring’s announcement, Martin had mentioned in one of his blogs that he had been “consulted on a video game out of Japan”. The project and collaboration with Martin was leaked a few days before the announcement.

For much more Elden Ring directly from the creator, check our exclusive, full Elden Ring interview with Hidetaka Miyazaki.

Esra Krabbe is an editor at IGN Japan. FromSoftware is one of his favorite modern game developers. Come say hi on Twitter!