Thanks to the success of Game of Thrones and his A Song of Ice and Fire series, George R.R. Martin has become a household name in the world of entertainment. Martin's influence has been felt in literature, films, and television, and with the upcoming Elden Ring, he will leave a mark on the video game industry as well. A collaboration with the critically-acclaimed studio FromSoftware, Elden Ring is one of the world's most hotly-anticipated games, but some may be surprised to learn that it's not even the first game Martin has had a hand in making.
Years before Elden Ring was even conceived, George R.R. Martin was involved with the development of a 2012 action-RPG simply titled Game of Thrones. Set in the world of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, the 2012 Game of Thrones action-RPG is notable for featuring the likeness of various actors from the TV show, while also presenting an original story that happens during the events of Season 1.
The 2012 Game of Thrones game was developed by Cyanide, a studio most recently known for the game Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood, and it was published by Focus Home Interactive in Europe. Atlus published the game for its North American release. Needless to say, if Game of Thrones had been as popular as it would have eventually become, one would think that development on the game would've been handled by a larger studio, and that it would have had a much larger budget as well.
Unfortunately, the 2012 Game of Thrones game earned negative reviews at the time of its release, with critics pointing out issues with everything from the graphics to the combat mechanics. But while it may not have been all that fun to play, the Game of Thrones video game did earn some praise for its story, which allowed players to make some major choices to the change the course of the narrative.
According to IMDB, George R.R. Martin helped write the Game of Thrones game's story, and he also served in an executive producer role. Not only that, but Martin actually plays a character in the game himself in the form of Maester Martin. While it's unclear exactly how much time George R.R. Martin himself spent on helping make the 2012 Game of Thrones game, it's clear that he did have an influence on its direction, at least from a story standpoint.
And since the Game of Thrones game was praised for its storytelling, that's a good sign for Elden Ring. The extent of George R.R. Martin's role in the development of Elden Ring isn't crystal clear either, but it's known that he is involved with Elden Ring's worldbuilding. Combining George R.R. Martin's impressive worldbuilding and storytelling abilities with FromSoftware's high quality gameplay seems like a surefire hit, though it's still far too early to make any calls like that.
Elden Ring was first announced at E3 2019 with an atmospheric trailer at Microsoft's press conference. Since then, Elden Ring news has been almost nonexistent, and the game certainly hasn't had a major showcase on the scale of its E3 reveal trailer. There were rumblings that the next Elden Ring reveal would take place at some point in March of this year, but March has come and gone with no sign of the game.
A major Elden Ring leak occurred last month, and it's believed that the leak is what ultimately led to the decision to hold off on showing the game again. Whether or not there's truth to that is up for debate, but the footage should at least give fans reassurance that Elden Ring development is in full-swing. And with Elden Ring news promised for 2021, hopefully fans don't have to wait too much longer to see the game in action.
As for when that may be, that's also unclear at the time of this writing. It's possible that Microsoft will continue to be the primary company promoting Elden Ring, and if so, a safe bet is that the game could be at the company's showcase this summer. Not much is known about Microsoft's summer gaming event just yet, but it's believed to be a presentation equivalent to its E3 shows, and it very well may take place at E3 2021 itself.
Microsoft has not revealed anything about its summer gaming event beyond the fact that it exists, so fans will have to standby for more information on that front. But while they wait patiently for news on Microsoft's summer event and Elden Ring, they could seek out the 2012 Game of Thrones video game that George R.R. Martin helped develop. If nothing else, it could be of interest to hardcore Game of Thrones fans who are starving for content following the show's ending and the continued absence of the Winds of Winter novel.
Elden Ring is in development for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Source: IMDB