When is the Nightingale release date? Nightingale is an upcoming open-world survival game from Inflexion Games, and like similar games in its genre, there’s plenty of gathering and building. What sets Nightingale apart is the Victorian-inspired assortment of procedurally-generated magical realms and its Roguelite card system, supported by a post-apocalyptic origin story set in a parallel universe.
Although Nightingale’s early access release has been delayed, a new release date was just confirmed. Meanwhile, the developers have been generous in their information supply, providing us with many blog posts and videos on Nightingale’s progress. There’s so much to learn about the Victorian survival game, so here’s an overview of everything we know about Nightingale.
Nightingale release date
Inflexion Games has confirmed that the Nightingale release date is Thursday, February 22, 2024. The announcement arrived at Gamescom 2023.
Originally meant to release in 2022, the developers announced the first delay, citing the decision to upgrade to Unreal Engine 5. Since then, there has been a further delay announced by Arryn Flynn, CEO of Inflexion Games, who said that the team got lots of feedback from playtesters and they wish to implement changes based on that. The team also wished to upgrade the game to use Unreal Engine 5.2, though this wasn’t the main reason for the delay.
Nightingale trailers
Nightingale’s reveal trailer, first shown at The Game Awards 2021, unveils a bunch of dreary, monster-ridden lands. As the voice-over explains, a malfunctioning portal is the reason why a bunch of people dressed in Victorian fashion suddenly find themselves stuck in this wasteland. The trailer also gives us our first glimpse of the base-building system, magical portals, and enemies. That unfriendly giant looks particularly troublesome.
Some advice from the Nightingale’s Summer Game Fest 2022 gameplay trailer: staying fed, dry, and well rested should be your priority. Since we’re talking about a crafting game, this probably doesn’t come as a major surprise, but yes, chopping down trees and hacking away at rocks are core aspects of Nightingale’s gameplay. Another important reveal in this trailer is the Realm Cards which influence world generation.
The Realmwalker’s Journey trailer, shown at The Game Awards 2022, teases more monstrous creatures, an umbrella-gliding feature that would make Mary Poppins jealous, and a collection of the latest Victorian fashion. Oh, and that masked floating guy with the golden horns? That’s Puck, our helpful Fae guide.
Nightingale story
In Nightingale’s alternate reality, humans have been living together with the magical ‘Fae’ for centuries. During that time, the humans learned how to use magic and created a magical city called Nightingale. This city hosts portals that serve as gateways to other realms.
Unfortunately, the realms have been struck by a calamity known as The Pale. The survivors, who are scattered over different realms, are now trying to make their way back to Nightingale, believing the city to be the only place that may withstand The Pale.
Nightingale gameplay
Nightingale’s Victorian Realmwalkers shall be able to explore the lands of Fae from a first-person perspective. Described by the developers as an “online shared-world realmscape”, players won’t be stuck on a single map but travel from realm to realm with the help of arcane portals.
Based on every trailer and development video we’ve seen so far, Nightingale’s gameplay features the following mechanics:
- Gathering (wood, food) and mining (stones, ore)
- Crafting, not just weapons and tools, but also Realm Cards
- Cooking
- Building large-scale settlements
- PvE combat against minor enemies as well as terrifying gargantuan bosses
Nightingale solo play and PvP mode
On the official website, Nightingale is described as a PvE game, which means players won’t be fighting fellow Realmwalkers in a PvP mode. However, there’s plenty of room to team up with others, as Nightingale plans to support between six and ten players per server.
Although you can join forces with friends and random players through Nightingale’s co-op system, it’s also possible to play Nightingale solo. During a Discord Q&A session in July 2022, the developers explained that they intend to make the game manageable in solo mode, but they also warned that it would make for a “challenging experience”.
Nightingale Realm Card system
One of Nightingale’s most notable features is the ‘Realm Card’ mechanism which shapes the game’s procedurally generated worlds. In short, Realm Cards unlock new realms to travel to, and by influencing the type of environment, enemies, and resources, they help you find a destination that fits your current needs. As explained in one of the developer blogs, new Realm Cards are acquired through crafting, thereby using “magickal ingredients”.
In their video on Realm Cards, the developers name a few examples. You can use the ‘hunt’ card if you want more enemies. If you don’t like nighttime, you can use a card that prevents the sun from setting. As shown in the gameplay trailer, using certain Reveal Cards combos can result in additional realm-shaping effects.
Nightingale news
Nightingale is the first game released by Inflexion, a studio set up by former BioWare General Manager Aaryn Flynn. The developer team has over 100 members, including other industry veterans from BioWare, Ubisoft, Capcom, and more.
As playtesters get their hands on Nightingale, we have seen several developer updates, giving us a look behind the curtain at the whole development process. Recent feedback from June’s playtest revealed that participants enjoyed climbing with pickaxes and the third-person viewpoint. Challenges faced include a bug that crippled the servers for an hour and pushing an update and hotfix while the servers were live.
That’s all we know about Nightingale right now, but do keep an eye out on this page as more information becomes available. If you’re looking for an experience like Nightingale, you may want to read our list of the best fantasy games to tide you over.
