George R.R. Martin didn't write the actual in-game text for Elden Ring

Update - August 27: While George R.R. Martin contributed greatly to the world and characters of Elden Ring, the Game of Thrones author didn't actually write in-game text.

Developer FromSoftware clarified Martin's role on the project as part of a new hands-off preview, which has also yielded new details on how fast travel works with the game's full-fat map and how Sekiro influenced its stealth and finishers. As IGN reports, marketing and communications manager Yasuhiro Kitao confirmed that the in-game text for Elden Ring was led and often written by director Hidetaka Miyazaki himself. 

FromSoftware previously explained that Martin was brought in early in development to help shape the big-picture elements of Elden Ring – like the history and themes of its world as well as the people within it – and Martin has since confirmed that his work on the game ended "years" ago. This strongly implied that Martin left before FromSoftware would've started writing granular in-game text like lore snippets and item descriptions, but it's interesting to hear that Miyazaki himself has taken the reins on this. 

Original story: 

Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin has been talking up Elden Ring in a new interview, expanding on his role in the game's development. 

In the interview itself, a portion of which you can see just below, Martin elaborates slightly on his actual role in Elden Ring's development. The author firstly says that his work on the game was done "years ago," but how long ago exactly is left something of a mystery.

Additionally, Martin reveals that he worked on both the "world-building" and characters of Elden Ring. While the characters part of the comment is extremely clear, the "world-building" line could point to Martin having done extensive work on in-game documents, for example, or just helping developer FromSoftware construct the lore of the game itself.

However, the author does say that FromSoftware would periodically show him both enemy and graphic designs from Elden Ring. If Martin truly was working on Elden Ring "years ago," then this could have been concept art done by FromSoftware employees prior to the game being in active development.

There is some confusion stemming from the interview, however. At one point during the segment, Martin refers to Elden Ring as a "sequel" to Dark Souls, FromSoftware's previous action trilogy. This has understandably caused some confusion on the part of fans, who were under the assumption that Elden Ring was an entirely standalone world, with zero connection to FromSoftware's past works. It's possible that Martin might be referring to Elden Ring as a spiritual successor to Dark Souls or he could just be mistaken.

The Elden Ring release date has been set after being absent from the public spotlight for nearly two years. In new footage, we saw towering beasts and a vast open world, as well as a surprise release date revealed as January 21, 2022. FromSoftware's new game will launch early next year on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S, and will support co-op for up to four players at any one time in the same game.

For more on FromSoftware's eagerly anticipated upcoming game, head over to the latest Elden Ring details from game director Hidetaka Miyazaki.