Summary
The FromSoftware community has thrived over the past couple years, with bothElden RingandArmored Core 6: Fires of Rubiconreleasing to high acclaim. Both are some of the most ambitious projects FromSoftware has put out –Elden Ringbecause it merges the Soulslike formula with an open world, andArmored Coreby virtue of being a series revival one decade in the making. With support for both titles continuing, things are looking good for FromSoftware fans.
More is on the horizon, asElden Ringhas DLC on the way. Taking the form of an expansion called Shadow of the Erdtree, this is expected to be FromSoftware’s largest post-launch addition to date. The only thing holding back fans' hype right now is the lack of information on it beyond a single image released in February 2023. Plenty of insight has been gleaned fromShadow of the Erdtree’s announcement poster, but the community should still prepare for the information drought to continue into 2024.
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Evidence Points To Elden Ring Having A Quiet 2023
Shadow of the Erdtree will be shown when it’s ready, and there’s no clear indication yet of when that is. However, two likely conclusions are thatElden Ring’s DLC will not release in 2023, and that the back-loaded marketing strategy that FromSoftware and Bandai Namco’s last few games have used is in play again. Shadow of the Erdtree is being treated likeElden Ringwas in the over-700 daysbetween its initial 2019 announcement and full gameplay reveal in 2021. As evenArmored Core 6staggered its previews until the last few months before launch, it’s clear that FromSoftware has no issues keeping its projects under wraps.
Although there is a slight chance for a trailer at The Game Awards in December, there is no reason to releaseElden Ring’s DLC in 2023 at this point. This DLC appears to be experiencing a full game’s development cycle, and that means that it should have a preview period just like the base game did. A shadow-drop won’t happen no matterwhat event Shadow of the Erdtree resurfaces at, but that does mean that fans should have at least a couple of months of warning before it’s out. It doesn’t hurt that pushing it into 2024 would get it away from the waves of popular releases that should last well into next year.
Shadow of the Erdtree’s True Reveal Will Herald Its Launch
The question of when Shadow of the Erdtree will show up next is hanging overElden Ringfans’ heads, and 2023’s Game Awards will be telling in that regard. If the expansion appears, it will probably also get a release date, which could be as early as February 2024 or as late as the summer. It’s a long time to wait for DLC, but fans should have plenty of time to tryother Soulslikes while waiting forElden Ring’s DLC. However, if it isn’t shown in 2023 at all, the next opportune time to market Shadow of the Erdtree is Summer Game Fest in June 2024, which would likely mean a late summer or holiday 2024 release date. As this expansion is adding open world regions toElden Ring’s already dense map, the extended development time is understandable.
As it stands,Elden Ringfans would be wise tofollow the example ofHollow Knight: Silksong’s communityand not count on news anytime soon. The immense effort going into the project, combined with the proven effectiveness of staggered marketing, means that Shadow of the Erdtree can reappear at its developers leisure. Thanks to its massive success,Elden Ringis far from finished as a franchise, so fans can wait comfortably for Shadow of the Erdtree knowing it will be held to the base game’s standards.
Elden Ringis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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