George R.R. Martin Is Too Busy Writing ‘Winds Of Winter’ To Play ‘Elden Ring’

Elden Ring, the open-world, spiritual successor to the Dark Souls series, saw the involvement of Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin, who contributed to the game’s backstory.

Like Dark Souls, the story of Elden Ring isn’t exactly told to the player – it is implied, hinted at through evocative item descriptions, the vague ramblings of NPC characters, and experienced through the world itself.

Aside from the decaying aristocracy with confusingly similar names, clinging to power as their bodies degrade into sore-ridden abominations, it’s difficult to know the extent of Martin’s involvement; game director Hidetaka Miyazaki referred to Martin’s world-building being used like a “dungeon master’s handbook in a tabletop RPG.”

One would assume that Martin might be keen to see how his ideas manifested in the decaying realm of The Lands Between, but Martin is, like many writers, a master procrastinator, and fears the addictive power of Elden Ring.

During his appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Martin admitted:

“I have not played it, because people seem to want this Winds of Winter book … I have, unfortunately, a totally addictive personality. 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.”

Martin’s instincts are right; Elden Ring is fiendishly addictive, and intimidatingly vast. It’s far too easy to spend an entire evening exploring the world on horseback, or being repeatedly bludgeoned by a behemoth, under the impression that the next try will surely see victory.

Besides, Martin already has his fair share of distractions, serving as an executive producer on HBO’s House of the Dragon, working on the next installment of Fire & Blood (which the HBO series is based on), as well as the next Dunk & Egg novella.

Martin has previously spoken of his inability to stick to deadlines, which has led to a lot of angry backlash from fans who are sick of waiting for the much-anticipated Winds of Winter, the penultimate volume in his Song of Ice and Fire series. Martin stated:

“I’ve given up making predictions, because people press me and press me: ‘When is it going to be done?’ And I make what I think is the best case estimate, and then stuff happens. Then everybody gets mad that I ‘lied.’ I’ve never lied about these predictions. They’re the best I can make, but I guess I overestimate my ability to get stuff done, and I underestimate the amount of interruptions and other projects, other demands that will distract me.”

According to Martin, the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent months of quarantine sparked a surge of productivity. In his blog, Martin wrote: “If nothing else, the enforced isolation has helped me write.”

Recently, Martin claimed to have written “about three-quarters” of the book, but is still hesitant to give fans a deadline. In an interview with Vanity Fair, he said: “I’m making progress, but I’ve given up on any hope of predicting the end … It’ll be done when it’s done.”

Martin has previously described The Winds of Winter as “a monstrous book, as big as a dragon.”

If he ever does manage to complete the tome, then Elden Ring will be waiting for him, probably with additional DLC, just to add to the procrastination.