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Elden Ring DLC plans and downloadable content in the future is something that a lot of people are already looking forward to, as Elden Ring has become one of the biggest games of 2022, both for sales and critical reception. For those who’ve already made it to any of the Elden Ring endings, you might be looking forward to finding extra content in the future, and knowing what extras might be coming to the game in the months ahead. We’ll lay out everything we know about Elden Ring DLC, downloadable content and future update plans below.
Will there be Elden Ring DLC?
At time of writing, it’s not clear if there’s going to be any DLC for Elden Ring, as both FromSoftware and Bandai Namco have avoided specifics in their discussion around the subject. The closest hint we have so far of what’s to come was in an official press release from Hidetaka Miyazaki and Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. President and CEO Yasuo Miyakawa. A quote from the latter says the following:
“Much effort was placed into creating “ELDEN RING” so that we could exceed the expectations of our fans worldwide. In like manner, we will continue our efforts in expanding the brand beyond the game itself, and into everyone’s daily life.”
Meanwhile, the press release itself also made this claim:
“Please look forward to more of “ELDEN RING” as an IP (characters and other intellectual property) in hopes of expanding beyond the realm of games.”
Clearly there seem to be plans for more Elden Ring to come, though what form that’ll take isn’t clear. The suggestion that it might go beyond gaming could mean all manner of things – probably merchandise or even adaptation into other media – but Miyakawa’s statement about expanding beyond the game feels open to interpretation, and could indicate DLC to come.
Not only that, but past business practices and current behaviour around the game make it feel fairly plausible. Aside from the regular content updates and changes that have been made to Elden Ring since its release (indicating that the game is still constantly being worked on), four of the six “Soulsborne” games that FromSoftware have released in the past decade and a half have had at least one DLC add-on. Even Sekiro, which had no official DLC, did have a major free update that added content to the game, so it feels more than likely that one of FromSoftware’s biggest games would have something – but of course, we don’t know that for certain yet.
When is the Elden Ring DLC release date?
Obviously, with no Elden Ring DLC officially announced yet there’s no way to know when (or even if) Elden Ring DLC would be coming out at all. However, we looked at past games in FromSoftware’s catalogue and compared it to the release dates of their (first) DLCs to see how long it took them to come to players.
- Dark Souls: 11 months to Artorias of the Abyss DLC (released as part of the Prepare to Die edition, it took another 2 months on top of that to become purchasable individually)
- Dark Souls 2: 3 months to Crown of the Sunken King DLC
- Bloodborne: 8 months to The Old Hunters DLC
- Dark Souls 3: 7 months to Ashes of Ariandel DLC
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice: 1 year, 7 months to Free Update content
If these examples set a precedent, it suggests that if there is going to be Elden Ring DLC in the future, we’d probably see it come out within the year, or at least hear about it within 2022.
What will the Elden Ring DLC be about?
Everything to do in Elden Ring before New Game Plus
If you’ve reached the end of the game, check out everything to do in Elden Ring before NG+!
At this point we can only speculate about what a hypothetical Elden Ring DLC might include, or what will happen. Past FromSoftware DLCs often have a focus on time travel, either leaping far back or forward in the world’s history to experience significant events, and the Dragonlord Placidusax fight in Elden Ring does allow you to step back in time, so clearly they’re not opposed to these kinds of ideas.
Not only that, but the Elden Ring lore is rich with meaningful events that have been alluded to, and would be fascinating to experience for ourselves. Alternatively, maybe the developers will do something with areas that already exist in the game, opening them up and changing them for player involvement. Here’s a few possibilities that many in the Elden Ring community think are likely to be focal to DLC – scroll down or click on them for more information.
- The Colosseums
- The mysterious cloud between the Divine Towers
- Miquella’s Egg
- The Shattering/Night of the Black Knives
- The Greater Will and rise of Queen Marika
The Colosseums
Elden Ring has numerous Colosseums spread around the game, imposing, arena-like buildings in Limgrave, Caelid and Leyndell that can’t actually be accessed legitimately. However, some have hacked the games and found arena-like areas inside, leading many to believe that these are going to become PVP arena in the future (which would explain why FromSoftware are constantly tinkering with weapon balancing in advance of such an update). Clearly having all these giant, unique-looking buildings is indicative of something, especially when as of yet there doesn’t appear to be any lore around them.
The mysterious cloud between the Divine Towers
This is one that many people have noticed – if you discover all Elden Ring Divine Tower locations, you’ll notice that they converge perfectly around a central point – not the Erdtree, as you might expect, but a section of inaccessible ocean in the very middle of the map, one covered and obscured by cloud. Seems suspicious – perhaps we’ll see them link up in a DLC and blast that cloud away to reveal a new island?
Miquella’s egg
Despite never seeing him properly, Miquella is a meaningful character in Elden Ring lore, Malenia’s demigod brother – supposedly the most “fearsome Empyrean of all” – who was cursed to eternal childhood and tried to cure himself before being abducted by Mohg, Lord of Blood. Miquella is now in a permanent slumber, and you can actually find him in Mohg’s boss fight arena, inside an egg-like cocoon with one arm draped out of it. Ofnir suggests at one point that it’s better for Miquella to stay asleep – but what’ll happen if he wakes up…?
The Shattering and the Night of the Black Knives
Two different events, but very much linked – the Night of the Black Knives was the night when a bunch of assassins snuck through the Lands Between and killed a bunch of demigods, including Marika’s son Godwyn. This in turn started a domino effect that led to the Shattering, a grand war between all the surviving demigods over the right to rule, the most famous example of which being the legendary battles between Malenia and General Radahn (a conflict so epic it turned Caelid into a blighted hellscape). These events were actually the focal points of the Elden Ring story trailer, so they’re clearly worth exploring at least a little.
The Greater Will and Rise of Marika
Alternatively, they might go even further back, to the formation of the Lands Between, where Marika appears from the realm of Numen, gets chosen by the deity known as the Greater Will, and forms the Lands Between along with her consort Godfrey, warring with giants, dragons and sorcerers alike to expand the Greater Will’s territory. It’d be a chance to explore a younger, newer version of the Lands Between, and to engage with essential characters like Marika, Godfrey, Radagon and Godwyn, major characters in the lore who only show up briefly in the core game.
Of course, all this is speculative, looking at obvious potential holes to fill in Elden Ring, and making educated guesses based on FromSoftware’s history and the comments made by its creators. We’ll be sure to update this page the moment we know more, as we’re also very excited to see what’s to come for the Lands Between!
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