The images contain various footage of the hammer scene we see in the trailer – including a version of the scene covered with tree roots described as ‘too many Dark Souls’ – various assumptions about the scepter and doors used in that scene becomes, and a ‘reconnaissance concept’ for what the final hit effect might look like (below).
Stiernström explained the process of his work at Digic Pictures, the company that had the task of helping to create the hammer scene in the E3 teaser, and said: “I had no idea what I was working on”.
“Most of this was made for internal discussion at Digic Pictures between the Art Director, Director, Producer and Leads,” Stiernström continues. “If they were happy with something, then they shared the concepts with the client. In the end, FromSoftware would provide us with most of the concept art anyway.
“I received an assignment for each task, but ideas change during the production, and so does the assignment. What you do today is irrelevant tomorrow. Sometimes an assignment is very clear and other times it is open to interpretations. We try to provide our expertise on how we can convey customers’ desired mood and style through lighting, animation, composition, camera angles, focal lengths, colors, etc. “
The Elden Ring community is famous, with so little to go on since that teaser arrived, is incredibly hungry for new details, and even creates an entire story for the game while they wait. So, although it may not be the real Elden Ring, this art is about as close as we have come to official images since the trailer. As you can imagine, it went well among fans, and many thank Stiernström for the post, call the artist a hero and praise the art itself.Of course, others used it as an opportunity to make jokes that were at the expense of the community, while memes appeared shortly thereafter.
And of course there were still those who, despite Stiernström’s reservations, went looking for information. GoatKiddclxvi wrote: “Roots everywhere! Indeed, the scene takes place in a tree! Man, it’s nut, thank you very much”, to which ForeverEqual replied: “This was me too the first time I noticed. It confirms the tree theory!” (The theory is that the game draws inspiration from Yggdrasil, the world tree of Norwegian folklore).
Others have taken the unexpected position to mean that internal NDAs around the game are coming to an end, meaning they will get more news in the near future. LentStories writes: “The fact that he’s putting it on his official portfolio makes me think he’s not doing it without some kind of permission; either an NDA end or direct permission from Fromsoft. Both give me some hope for further news. “Most striking is that the predominant response in all posts I read was positive. It’s really a joy to read through the Elden Ring subreddit today as people celebrate something new to pore over and build it into the self-reflective building the community has built. If this is the reaction to concept art for a trailer, I can not wait to visit it after FromSoftware finally released more.
So, what do we actually know about Elden Ring? We know this is an open world Soulslike from the creator of Dark Souls, Hidetaka Miyazaki, and the author of Game of Thrones, George RR Martin. Miyazaki says it’s an evolution of Dark Souls, and we know that Xbox boss Phil Spencer played it. Apart from that, it is a blank page. It is the hope that 2021 is when it will be filled.
Joe Skrebels is IGN’s editor – in – chief of News. Follow him further Twitter. Do you have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Send an email to [email protected]