Elden Ring release date revealed in brand new gameplay trailer

The Elden Ring release date is set for January 21, 2022 as revealed in a new gameplay trailer.

A new Elden Ring trailer was released during today's Summer Game Fest stream, giving us our first official look at the game in years, and easily our best look yet, complete with horseback riding through a massive open world, magic and melee combat, and plenty of hulking bosses. 

As expected, the long-awaited action-RPG is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X as well as PS4, Xbox One, and PC. With the release date itself still fresh, we naturally don't have any details on new-gen differences or upgrades just yet. 

The new trailer opens with a wide shot of the game's massive world before introducing our main character, who seems to be known as the Tarnished. A massive, Yggdrasil-esque tree towers over the landscape, and in true From Software style, this is all narrated by a soft-spoken young woman stylized as some sort of oracle. From there, it's up on our horse and into battle.

The rest of today's reveal is a veritable boss rush – nearly 180 seconds of nearly uninterrupted combat. From Software's distinct brand of melee, magic, and ranged combat is on full display, now with the addition of horseback attacks, and there are too many giants, monstrosities, and fantastical creatures to count. Dragons! Wolfmen! Made-of-Arms Man! It's hard to tell what's a boss and what's a normal enemy at this point, but we're definitely looking at more than a handful of the big bads we'll slay as the Tarnished.

Crucially, we also get a look at multiplayer in action as our main character parties up with two friendly phantoms – whether white or blue remains to be seen – to take on an enemy encampment. Multiplayer looks purely cooperative so far, but PvP isn't off the table. 

Originally announced at E3 2019, Elden Ring is a new action-RPG from Dark Souls developer From Software, led by series director Hidetaka Miyazaki, made in collaboration with Game of Thrones writer George R.R. Martin. Given the popularity of its creators and the prolonged, quiet nature of its development, Elden Ring has been the subject of countless leaks and rumors ranging from leaked footage to fake footage to the possible return of the Dark Souls PvP and class systems. 

That's one item off the bucket list, but there's still plenty of gaming news to come – here's everything you need to know about the E3 2021 schedule.