The unofficial sequel to Dark Souls is taking cues from Elden Ring and "getting closer to release"

The modders behind Nightfall, the unofficial Dark Souls sequel, have released a new update video breaking down the project's development over the past several months.

"We're working on it consistently and it's genuinely getting closer to release every week," modder Scott 'Grimrukh' Mooney explains. He says that "the boring reason for the delay is that we've simply had less time than expected to work on this year, even after accounting for the predictably asteroid-sized distraction of Elden Ring."

Grimrukh says that it's unlikely that Nightfall will be out this year, but it's not outside the realm of possibility - either way, it's closing in on launch. Just maybe don't put too much pressure on a team of fans working in their spare time on nights and weekends.

While Elden Ring might be a distraction, it's also been an inspiration. The devs have found themselves looking to further smooth out Nightfall's rough edges, "especially compared to standards recently set by Elden Ring." They're also improving the smaller-scope boss fights. Originally, Nightfall was set to feature both new major bosses and some remixed, familiar bosses - but the contrast between the two has proven "too sharp, especially in a post-Elden Ring world."

A Nightfall demo launched earlier this year, and Grimrukh says the team has "received a lot of positive as well as constructive feedback" from players that's feeding back into the mod. The devs have made a "seemingly endless chain of new breakthroughs in our modding abilities," leading to improvements in their development process for lighting, character animation, and AI.

Check out our interview with Grimrukh over Nightfall for much more on the wildly ambitious project.