Players are still exploring the Lands Between months after Elden Ring’s release, but those who’ve reached the end may begin wondering if there’s DLC in store. FromSoftware’s Elden Ring is a behemoth experience with plenty to do, so it doesn’t necessarily need more content, but that hasn’t stopped speculation about future expansions. Discoveries just after launch and later in the year offer compelling evidence that there’s more in store for Elden Ring, and judging by past Souls games, DLC is likely coming at some point. But what exactly do we know about Elden Ring DLC?
Has Elden Ring DLC been confirmed?
FromSoftware has yet to confirm DLC for Elden Ring, but every Dark Souls game has received additional content in the past, so it’s likely that trend will continue.
In an interview with 4gamer earlier this year, director Hidetaka Miyazaki confirmed that more content for Elden Ring is in development, but didn’t officially announce it as DLC. FromSoftware hasn’t generally pushed free updates to its games outside of patches, so chances are good it’s a large-scale DLC.
The only Soulsborne game since Demon’s Souls that hasn’t gotten DLC is Sekiro, but given the wild success of Elden Ring, it seems all but guaranteed. If DLC is in the works, we expect FromSoftware to follow its usual pattern and announce it around a month before its release, which could be as soon as the end of 2022.
What are the Elden Ring DLC rumors and leaks?
A video from YouTuber Lance McDonald shows off a mysterious coliseum that is currently inaccessible. McDonald was able to use a camera mod to explore beyond a locked door and discover what looks a lot like a PvP area, similar to the Brotherhood of Blood dueling arena from Dark Souls 2.
Since the Elden Ring coliseum is not accessible yet, it seems possible this area might be unlocked in the future as DLC where players can fight each other in an easier, more self-contained way. Currently, if you approach the front of the coliseum, an AI-controlled invader appears, which is perhaps another clue that PvP battles are coming sometime in the future. Defeating this character grants players some items needed to participate in multiplayer battles.
The video above depicts the large, open coliseum that seems perfect for PvP battles, especially since the game doesn’t currently have a dedicated spot for competitive play. Sure, there are areas that are more popular than others, such as the Radahn Arena, but having an officially dedicated location for PvP would certainly make it easier to find other players to fight against — even if it were incorporated into the game’s pre-existing, complex multiplayer system.
Alternatively, this arena could be home to a new boss rush mode in the future, though in an interview with GamerBraves, Elden Ring producer Yasuhiro Kitao confirmed no such content is planned.
An October 2022 patch for Elden Ring throws more weight behind the PvP arena theory. The main point of the update is to tweak tons of spells, mostly to make them cheaper to cast. More importantly, it finally adds separate damage calculations for PvE and PvP. Some abilities that used to absolutely dominate in PvP will be less effective there while remaining the same in PvE, making multiplayer duels more balanced.
That alone doesn’t mean more multiplayer content is coming, but once again Lance McDonald reported a hidden detail in the update that makes the case. Buried in the game’s files are references to two new maps not currently in the game, labeled “m20” and “m45.” Due to how maps are labeled in Elden Ring’s code, m20 seems to indicate a new Legacy dungeon, but m45 is something else entirely, according to another Souls expert, ZullieTheWitch. Whether the new map is intended to expand Elden Ring’s multiplayer or not, it seems clear a new area of some kind is coming to the game, which will almost certainly be tied to a substantial bit of DLC.
It’s likely DLC will feature new areas, potentially more story content, and additional bosses to defeat. If history is any indication, we might also get new items, weapons, gear, and maybe even a new batch of spells.
When could Elden Ring DLC be released?
If Elden Ring DLC is in the works, we should expect it to launch within a year of the game’s release. Each of the Dark Souls games has gotten significant post-launch support, with additional content coming out anywhere from four months to a year after the base game's initial launch. Dark Souls 2 and 3 featured season passes, receiving multiple expansions over the course of a year.
Eagle-eyed fans on Reddit noticed that the makers of the official Elding Ring guides, Future Press, are working on a second volume and recently announced a delay. “We’re still hard at work on Volume II, and have made the tough decision to delay its release until early 2023. We’re striving to include all there is to know at the time of publication, making it accurate and useful long after its release,” reads the statement from Future Press. Fans speculate that the most logical reason to delay the second volume of a guide for a game that is nearly a year old would be that they are adding content related to future DLC.
If this is due to the I'm intent release of DLC content then the early 2023 date for the second volume of the guide suggests DLC could be coming before the end of 2022 or in early 2023. We also wouldn’t rule out additional DLC for 2023 and maybe even beyond.
