Elden Ringwas the cultural moment in gaming for 2022, FromSoftware’s sweeping epic open world dark fantasy action RPG depicting a massive struggle for power in the Lands Between. WhileElden Ringhas inspired a manga localized by Yen Press, the Steins Alter team has taken on the herculean task of creating a fitting anime, taking their time to get the project right. Given the trailer glimpses from their YouTube channel, where they released the teaser in English, Japanese, French, and Portuguese, the anime short film is set for a Summer 2025 release.
TheElden Ringanime is a fan production, and even this tease is an intensive director’s cut as Steins Alter notes at the end of the video. The trailer depicts many familiarElden Ringbosses and characters from key lore, including Malenia, Maliketh, Radagon, Mohg, and even a glimpse at Miquella, with fluid animation and promises of thrilling action. With remarkable polish and a promise of a release later in 2025, theElden Ringfan anime will bring Tarnished from all corners of the globe, maidenless or otherwise.
Elden Ring Has an Upcoming Fan Anime and It Looks Fantastic
Steins Alter Putting Extra Time and Polish Into the Production
TheElden Ringanime tease reveals that the final product will be five minutes long, with extra polish put into the after-effects and overall production. Steins Alter also mentions the efforts to fine-tune all aspects of the production, down to the lighting hues and authentic surface reflections, while fitting a unique art style suited to the game’s worlds. WhileElden Ring’sworld and stories are far too massive to cram into five minutes, enough characters crucial to central figures like Queen Marika or Mohgwyn Palace settings suggest several key moments or battles will occur.
Dark Souls Fans Are Dying to Get Their Hands on Its Must-Have Manga Adaptation
Video game manga adaptations offer gorgeous, impressive glimpses into the massive worldbuilding of global hits, the latest being Dark Souls.
It’s also a perfectly fitting production, with Miquella, brother of Malenia, being a central character inElden Ring’s Shadow of the ErdtreeDLC. The project is aimed at celebrating theElden Ringgame, andwith its expansion in the running for Game of the Yearalongside the original title in 2022, the extra time and care are justified. However,the video also takes aim at mainstream animators, with some key remarks later in the video.
Elden Ring Fan Animators Call Out Poor Quality Control in Popular Anime
Blue Lock Catching Strays
While creating a five-minute fan production fundamentally differs from creating a seasonal, 20+ minute episodic anime, Steins Alter’s video also features key commentary about rushed anime production. In theElden Ringfan anime teaser’s ending remarks, the channel leaves and offhand remark about mainstream studios for this problem,specificallyBlue Lock’ssecond season by Eight Bit. The anime changed hands to director Yūji Haibara in season 2, along with a tight production schedule and restricted animation resources as examples ofthe issues plaguingBlue Lockseason 2. However, the final product is undeniably imperfect, so it’s a fair hit.
Us animators are all very busy, and rushing art isn’t within any of my interests, unlike those in charge of Blue Lock, clearly.
-Steins Alter Elden Ring Director’s Cut trailer remarks
This type of problem is nonexistent for fan anime, and instead,the bigger concerns are typically whether the property they’re adapting will have copyright issues. With recent instances like theBerserkfan anime being canceled whileStudio Eclypse shifted focus toAttack on Titan, one can hopeElden Ringdoesn’t run into similar problems. But after a stellar 2022 and 2024,Elden Ringenjoyers can look forward to a blissfully crafted anime product by the fans and for the fans.
Elden Ring Fan Anime Strives for Similar Greatness to Modern Prestige Studios
Ufotable and A-1 Pictures Among Those Named
In Steins Alter’s August 17, 2025 video announcing the production of theElden Ringfan anime,the creators wish to create a series projecting a feeling of prestige like the best studios.The video specifically mentions striving for “a cinematic, high-quality version ofElden Ring, whether it’s like Studio Ufotable, or A-1 Pictures, something close to that is what we aim for.” A great deal of focus was put into creating a faithful animated version of the game’s events, showing a collaboration withParshwaandXavieron X, alongside other collaborators like Toushi and Vita listed in the video’s description.
Aiming to achieve similar heights as the studios currently behind Demon Slayer and Solo Leveling, respectively, is an impressive and lofty goal.
Whether this ideal is feasible remains to be seen, as even the thirty-six-second tease for the upcoming five-minute special video can only tell so much about theElden Ringfan anime’s success.Aiming to achieve similar heights as the studios currently behindDemon SlayerandSolo Leveling, respectively, is an impressive and lofty goal. It’s so sought-after that even mainstream studios likePierrot shifted their business models to create similarly excellent contentand gather the same success as hits likeDemon Slayer.
However, as shown in the case of Studio Eclypse’sAttack on Titanproject, and the now-shutteredStudio Taka’sBerserkanimated manga project,the final product, and even the teasers, gather a massive flocking audience.Elden Ringis in the running for a victory lap in the form of essentially getting two Game of the Year awards two years apart, so a new piece of content bridging the gap into anime is a desirable and intimidating goal.
Would Elden Ring Even Work as a Full Anime?
The Possibilities Boggle the Mind
With as wide an open world as the Lands Between and multiple divergent paths the player can take in theElden Ring, an anime is difficult to nail down with all the rich possibilities. However,a full-length series would be wise to focus on a cinematic retelling of one of the key questlines, such as Ranni the Witch, whose story serves as a compelling alternate ending to the game. It’d be an intriguing journey given the bonus characters such asBlaidd the half-wolf, Preceptor Seluvis, and War Counselor Iji in Ranni’s orbit.
There’s one clearer, already defined route that a more officialElden Ringanime could take: adapting theRoad to the Erdtreemanga.
ButRanni’s story inElden Ringis just one of the several compelling characters who could benefit from an adaptation, such as Millicent, Fia, and Alexander the Iron Fist. Such is true for any of FromSoftware’s games, asplenty of fans would eagerly join any streaming service that provides an animated Siegmeyer of Catarina. But there’s one clearer, already defined route that a more officialElden Ringanime could take: adapting theRoad to the Erdtreemanga.
Elden Ring: Road to the Erdtreeis a comedic take on most players' experiences starting in the game. The story focuses on Aseo, an especially colorful and unfortunate Tarnished. The series is gorgeously drawn by Nikiichi Tobita, blending a surprising amount of humor into an otherwise perfectly loyal recreation of Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin’s world. ShouldElden Ringget an anime, this manga would be a stellar choice to win over the fans.
Sources:Steins Alter on YouTube,Elden Ring: Road to the Erdtreeon Comic Walker,ParshwaandXavieron X
Elden Ring
Elden Ring is a spectacular game. One that is going to keep you hooked for hours upon hours. Whether that is down to the curiousness of the different lands you can explore, or the sheer determination to defeat the incredibly difficult bosses that you will eventually face, it is a game that is equally rewarding as it is tricky. The open worlds are particularly dense and there are many side quests that you will find yourself stumbling into.The open-world element in Elden Ring is probably the most enjoyable compared to every other open-world game on the market as it actually feels like you are free to explore without the overarching storyline directing you to different places. The naturalness of the game is exemplified by the fact that there are no exclamation markers on the map guiding you to complete specific quests. Although this level of ambiguity can sometimes make the main storyline hard to follow for those who are new to games like Elden Ring, it is certainly worth the dedication to complete. Unlike similar games, such as Skyrim, jumping into a different region means coming against enemies of different levels.Elden Ring does not scale enemy levels to your own, so you are constantly coming up against tougher opponents that you have to really figure out how to defeat. Making the victory even more rewarding. If you are a curious traveler, the game always seems to reward you. With every ambushed goblin you kill or new NPC that you meet, the game will reward you. Whether that be with a new Ash of War, valuable consumable, or interesting weapon there is always going to be a quest worth doing or a new cave to explore.
