Elden Ring Nightreign surges past Assassin's Creed Shadows player count within 2 hours of release

FromSoftware’s latest co-op spin-off, Elden Ring Nightreign, exploded on its debut, breaking into Steam’s top ten most played games within just hours of launch (May 30, 2025). Even though it didn’t beat the original Elden Ring’s historic numbers, it still managed to smash past 300,000 concurrent players on Steam in under two hours. And yes, it has already left Assassin’s Creed Shadows' launch player count in the dust.

Read on to learn more about Nightreign's launch status.

Elden Ring Nightreign has over 300K players in under two hours

Elden Ring Nightreign officially launched on May 30, 2025, and quickly drew in massive interest from PC gamers. According to SteamDB, the game peaked at 313,593 concurrent players roughly 1 hour and 40 minutes after release. While this doesn’t touch 2022's Elden Ring 950k+ peak record, it’s still a huge number for a spin-off, especially one with roguelike elements and a heavier focus on co-op play.

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The hype had been building since the project was revealed at The Game Awards 2024, and was fueled by its time at the top of Steam’s “Most Wishlisted” list. Now, the game is proving that this anticipation was certainly justified.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows can't keep up

Just for comparison, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Ubisoft’s latest open-world entry, peaked at 64,825 players on its launch day in March 2025. That was a new day-one record for the AC series, beating out both Odyssey and Valhalla. But Nightreign blew past that total in less than two hours.

As of now, we don’t have official numbers for Xbox and PlayStation, since those store charts update more slowly. But if the PC response is anything to go by, Nightreign is likely pulling serious numbers across the board.

With strong early numbers, tons of player interest, and unique gameplay, Elden Ring Nightreign is currently looking like another win for FromSoftware.

Also read: Can you play Nightreign as a newcomer to the Soulsborne series?

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About the author

Ishant Jadhav is an Esports and Gaming writer at Sportskeeda. He is currently pursuing a B.Sc. in animation and VFX — a course that integrates various forms of media — and has worked with game developers, journalists, as well as filmmakers. He's also a game designer who has lent his talents to multiple indie projects.

Ishant's love of gaming was inspired by the Witcher series, and though he prefers single-player experiences, he doesn't restrict himself to them and often plays It Takes Two and Chained Together with his friends.

When Ishant isn't analyzing or playing video games, he can be found indulging in the works of authors like Dan Brown, George R.R. Martin, and more.

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Edited by Niladri Roy