These guys who’re preventing Soulsborne bosses till Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree comes out don’t have any finish in sight for his or her lonesome vigil: There was no trailer for the enlargement at this yr’s Recreation Awards. I do not ever wish to sound incensed or entitled to this form of factor like some sort of piggy oinking for treats, however we did have robust purpose to count on FromSoftware’s follow-up to our 2022 Recreation of the Yr to make an look.
FromSoft appears to have a agency relationship with Geoff Keighley’s operation at this level: Off the highest of my head, Elden Ring’s preliminary reveal and first gameplay trailer, in addition to the primary reveals of Armored Core 6 and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice all occurred at both the Recreation Awards or Summer time Recreation Fest.
Add to that, our collective inner Elden Ring DLC clocks all appear to be syncing up and telling us it is about time. We’re approaching the two-year anniversary of Elden Ring’s launch (Christ alive, does the time fly) and traditionally, FromSoft’s DLC enlargement packs have come out inside a yr of their respective video games’ releases. My coworker Wes Fenlon has a superb breakdown of when every FromSoft DLC occurred in relation to their unique recreation’s launch.
On the latest Japanese PlayStation Companions awards, Elden Ring producer Yasuhiro Kitao mentioned that “[Shadow of the Erdtree]’s nonetheless slightly methods off, however progress goes nicely. Like Bloodborne’s enlargement, it has new battles and new characters: So please sit up for new issues.”
Video games simply take extra time now, and Elden Ring had an extended growth cycle than different Souls video games earlier than it, however because the wait actually begins to tug on, we’ve got to start out interested by one potential upside: Simply how massive is that this factor going to be? Shadow of the Erdtree’s growth time is beginning to appear to be that of a full-fat launch, and I do not assume it is unreasonable to anticipate one thing that dwarfs prior efforts like Bloodborne’s The Outdated Hunters. Perhaps an Elden Ring equal to The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine’s sprawling sister open world.
That is superior, however when can I play it, then? My crystal ball obtained chipped within the mail and my girlfriend retains dumping out the tea leaves I wish to learn, however there are some robust educated guesses we will make—permitting, in fact, that an look at this yr’s Recreation Awards was one such guess that did not pan out.
The Taipei Recreation Present
When: January 25-28
Hype verify: Chilly Fish: 🔥
I do not assume the Taipei Recreation Present is a probable candidate for one thing big like a gameplay trailer or launch date, however you by no means know. FromSoft has usually had a big presence right here, providing a prolonged interview about Armored Core 6’s course (previous to its first gameplay footage) this previous yr, and the corporate did current new gameplay of Elden Ring in 2022 on the present, only a month out from launch.
I might count on extra backwards-facing, interview-style content material concerning Armored Core 6 than any Elden revelations, with perhaps a small replace on Shadow of the Erdtree’s growth progress within the playing cards.
Elden Ring’s 2-year anniversary
When: February 25
Hype verify: Ailing-Advisedly Astronomical: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Elden Ring’s first birthday got here and went and not using a peep, dashing any DLC hopes for followers like myself. Then, three days later, I awoke on my time off to see all people going nuts over FromSoft’s announcement of Shadow of the Erdtree within the type of bafflingly high-resolution new key artwork.
Hope springs everlasting, and my intestine tells me that this is able to be the time to drop a reveal trailer if FromSoft is aiming for a summer season launch window, and it’d rhyme with that preliminary announcement as nicely. If we do not get the Holy Grail right here, I might at the least count on some sort of dev replace round this time.
Summer time Recreation Fest
When: June 8
Hype verify: The Final, Finest Hope for Humanity: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
If we do not see something by June and FromSoft is planning to launch Shadow of the Erdtree in 2024 in any respect, I might count on a reveal trailer right here, at The Recreation Awards Jr., with the enlargement launching on the finish of the summer season or within the fall. The corporate might all the time shock us with a wild card prefer it did with Armored Core 6’s first gameplay trailer and launch date reveal, which got here out of nowhere on the finish of April this yr, however that simply appears foolish.
The Recreation Awards, 2024
When: TBA December 2024
Hype verify: lol: 🥴
I virtually do not even wish to converse it into existence, however what if this factor’s not even coming till 2025? In at this time’s atmosphere of increasing budgets and venture lead occasions, you actually cannot rule something out. If we do not hear something till the 2024 TGAs, I might count on a launch window round Elden Ring’s third birthday, and an enlargement extra the scale of a full recreation. If Shadow of the Erdtree remains to be a no-show at this late date? God assist us all.