Accused of copying FromSoftware’s homework, Lords of the Fallen 2 boss says its Elden Ring Nightreign doppelganger is from 2024: “Visual overlap can occur in medieval fantasy”

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As anticipation builds for Lords of the Fallen 2, a major action RPG in the Soulslike genre expected in 2026, developer CI Games has been sharing glimpses of the game’s enemies, known as the “hordes of the fallen.” A recent image release caused some discussion, with fans pointing out resemblances to characters from FromSoftware games, but CI Games CEO Marek Tyminski insists these similarities are accidental.

A newly revealed character from Lords of the Fallen 2 appears to be a follower of the moon goddess Menasilde, judging by their blue cloak and armor details. Their weapon is a shortened greatsword. Fans have noted a resemblance to both Artorias, a knight from the Dark Souls DLC, and Wylder, a similar character from Elden Ring’s Nightreign, with Wylder even having a costume inspired by Artorias.

According to Tyminski, the design for Lords of the Fallen 2 was finalized in 2024, before Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree – the game it was most often compared to online – was even revealed.

Tyminski has responded to accusations of plagiarism, stating they are completely untrue. He shared a screenshot of a July 2024 Slack conversation showing a CI Games artist sharing an early version of artwork – originally called “the HallowedBro” – that later became the Menasilde soldier revealed on Wednesday.

According to Tyminski, a new enemy character appears to be based on Wylder from Nightreign. The design for this enemy was finished on July 17, 2024, more than five months before Nightreign was even announced. By October 23, 2024, the complete character model was already integrated into the game, clearly showing the order of events.

It’s common for fantasy games to share similar visual elements, and while we admire FromSoftware’s work, we create our designs independently. We’re proud of the armor in the first Lords of the Fallen, which received a lot of positive feedback, and we’re confident players will feel the same about the armor in the new game. We fully support our artists and the unique, high-quality work they produce.

Last month, the developer of Lords of the Fallen 2, Tyminski, unexpectedly highlighted the game’s female characters. However, character designs weren’t the reason the first game was only okay, so hopefully the developers will now focus on improving the actual gameplay – things like how well the co-op mode works, how balanced skills are, how quickly the game responds to player input, and where enemies are placed – to make the sequel a success.

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2026-01-08 19:11