Hidetaka Miyazaki Recognized Popular Mod for Elden Ring; 'I'm Not Saying That We Won't Consider Ideas Like That With Our Future Games'
Hidetaka Miyazaki points out the advantage of a co-op mode in Elden Ring but doesn't deny that FromSoftware may consider adding „total co-op” along the lines of a fan mod.
FromSoftware games don't really allow for online fun with mods. However, the devs of Elden Ring not only refrain from condemning the Seamless Co-op mod, but they actually regard it as a potential source of inspiration for their future projects.
This was assured by Hidetaka Miyazaki himself, who gave an interview to Wes Fenlon from PC Gamer. In the following article about this discussion, the Japanese stressed that the type of collaboration found in Elden Ring (as well as in the studio's previous works) was designed to offer a relaxed, "casual" co-op experience, allowing players to swiftly join the game, accomplish a task (such as defeating a boss), and continue onward.
However, Miyazaki added that this doesn't mean that FromSoftware opposes playing the game together in "total cooperation" mode (i.e. from start to finish). Perhaps such an option will be included in one of the future projects of the Japanese team.
That's not to say we won't consider other ways like you and your friend played, from beginning to end, total co-op—that's not to say we won't consider ideas like that with our future games.
The Seamless Co-op mod was released more than 3 months after the debut of Elden Ring (at the end of May 2022) and quickly sparked huge interest. Currently, it is the most popular game modification on the Nexus mods website - it has been downloaded over 1.7 million times from this website alone. It's important to note that the mod doesn't link players via official servers, so there's no risk of account suspension (unless we mess with the save files, which aren't shared between the mod and the base game version).
Nonetheless, many fans would probably prefer if such an option was officially available in the game. It probably won't appear in Elden Ring anymore, but Miyazaki's words indicate that there is a chance to add a similar feature in the next games of FromSoftware studio.
By the way, we know that the developer is considering not only continuing the Armored Core series (after the significant success of the sixth installment) but also creating the "ideal fantasy RPG." The studio has also started a major recruitment for new projects (via Wccftech).
We are currently anticipating the conclusion of the Elden Ring story in the expansion Shadow of the Erdtree, set to debut on June 20th.