These guys who’re combating Soulsborne bosses till Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree comes out haven’t any finish in sight for his or her lonesome vigil: There was no trailer for the enlargement at this 12 months’s Recreation Awards. I do not ever need to sound incensed or entitled to this type of factor like some type of piggy oinking for treats, however we did have sturdy cause 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 12 months of their respective video games’ releases. My coworker Wes Fenlon has a wonderful breakdown of when every FromSoft DLC occurred in relation to their authentic recreation’s launch.
On the current Japanese PlayStation Companions awards, Elden Ring producer Yasuhiro Kitao stated that “[Shadow of the Erdtree]’s nonetheless just a little methods off, however progress goes properly. 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 improvement cycle than different Souls video games earlier than it, however because the wait actually begins to pull on, we’ve to begin occupied with one potential upside: Simply how massive is that this factor going to be? Shadow of the Erdtree’s improvement time is beginning to seem like that of a full-fat launch, and I do not suppose it is unreasonable to anticipate one thing that dwarfs prior efforts like Bloodborne’s The Outdated Hunters.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 received chipped within the mail and my girlfriend retains dumping out the tea leaves I need to learn, however there are some sturdy educated guesses we are able to make—permitting, in fact, that an look at this 12 months’s Recreation Awards was one such guess that did not pan out.
The Taipei Recreation Present
When: January 25-28
Hype examine: Chilly Fish: 🔥
I do not suppose the Taipei Recreation Present is a possible candidate for one thing big like a gameplay trailer or launch date, however you by no means know. FromSoft has sometimes had a big presence right here, providing a prolonged interview about Armored Core 6’s path (previous to its first gameplay footage) this previous 12 months, 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 improvement progress within the playing cards.
Elden Ring’s 2-year anniversary
When: February 25
Hype examine: Unwell-Advisedly Astronomical: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Elden Ring’s first birthday got here and went with no peep, dashing any DLC hopes for followers like myself. Then, three days later, I awoke on my break day to see everyone 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 may be the time to drop a reveal trailer if FromSoft is aiming for a summer time launch window, and it’d rhyme with that preliminary announcement as properly. If we do not get the Holy Grail right here, I might no less than count on some type of dev replace round this time.
Summer time Recreation Fest
When: June 8
Hype examine: The Final, Greatest 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’d count on a reveal trailer right here, at The Recreation Awards Jr., with the enlargement launching on the finish of the summer time or within the fall. The corporate may 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 12 months, however that simply appears foolish.
The Recreation Awards, 2024
When: TBA December 2024
Hype examine: lol: 🥴
I nearly do not even need to communicate it into existence, however what if this factor’s not even coming till 2025? In at the moment’s setting of increasing budgets and venture lead instances, 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 dimensions of a full recreation. If Shadow of the Erdtree continues to be a no-show at this late date? God assist us all.