Martin’s not much of a gamer, but he does have some experience with older titles like Railroad Tycoon (pic: YouTube)
If fans want George R. R. Martin’s next book to ever come out, it’s probably a good job he never got into Elden Ring.
It’s not a detail that’s commonly talked about now that the game is out, but when Elden Ring was first announced, one major selling point was that George R. R. Martin, the author of the A Song Of Ice And Fire books (which were adapted into Game Of Thrones) would be involved.
At the time, all that was said was that the game was set in a world created by Martin and Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki. He didn’t pen any of the story, but instead contributed to the worldbuilding and backstory, aka everything that happened before the events of the game.
Still, some would assume that he would’ve been amongst the first in line to play the game and experience it himself. Turns out, though, that even eight months after launch, he hasn’t gone anywhere near it.
As for why, Martin blames two things – the first being the fact that he’s still working on his next novel, The Winds Of Winter, which fans have been pestering him about for a while. And by a while we mean a decade or so.
It’s been over 10 years since his last book and considering Elden Ring is quite the time sink, it makes sense that he wouldn’t make playing it a priority.
When asked in an interview with Stephen Colbert, he simply explained ‘I have not played it because… people seem to want this Winds Of Winter book,’ something that both him and the audience got a chuckle out of.
He also admits that he has something of an addictive personality. While he did use to play some old school PC games, he got too hooked on them and has decided to go ‘cold turkey.’
‘I have, unfortunately, a totally addictive personality,’ he said. ‘I did play video games a long, long time ago. I played games like Railroad Tycoon, Master Of Orion, and Homeworld and I would get sucked into it.
‘Weeks, months would go by, and I’d be sitting there in my red flannel bathrobe just saying, ‘One more game, one more game.’ I can’t, I gotta go cold turkey on this, this is gonna kill me here.’
Given Elden Ring’s opaque plotline and detailed item descriptions are still very much in From’s usual style it’s very hard to detect Martin’s hand in any of it.
Still, he’s apparently ‘gratified to be a part of it’ and describes the opportunity as ‘fun.’ While he’s never commented on the possibility, perhaps he’ll be open to returning for the inevitable sequel or the still inexplicably unannounced DLC.
More: Gaming
Publisher Bandai Namco is looking to pull the same trick twice as it’s partnering with another fantasy author, Brandon Sanderson, for a future game.
Sanderson, who’s far more of a gaming enthusiast than Martin, already had a pitch in mind for a Soulsborne game, but time will tell if said pitch will become a reality or if Bandai Namco had something else in mind.
Elden Ring is available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC.
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If fans want George R. R. Martin’s next book to ever come out, it’s probably a good job he never got into Elden Ring.