Just over one year after Elden Ring’s original release, the new Shadow of the Erdtree expansion has been revealed to be in development but there's no release date in sight.
FromSoftware broke cover regarding the first piece of Elden Ring DLC earlier today by announcing its name alongside some seriously evocative artwork. The expansion itself is called Shadow of the Erdtree, and this alone has been enough to get die-hard fans speculating what a return trip to the Lands Between could potentially entail.
The DLC for the award-winning open-world RPG was unveiled in a tweet from the developer’s official account. “Rise, Tarnished, and let us walk a new path together” it reads, before confirming that an expansion is in development – although there's no word on a release date and the next update about the additional content is a long way off. The accompanying blog post (translated by Google) confirmed the Elden Ring DLC is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC as well as last-gen consoles, before saying that the next update we'll have on the expansion shouldn't be expected for a while.
This news will no doubt be music to the ears of everyone who tuned into last week’s one year anniversary livestream on Twitch. Fans took to Reddit to voice their disappointment in the absence of Elden Ring DLC news. We can only speculate as to why the reveal was made separately as opposed to the livestream, but there’s a chance a lack of information perhaps played a part.
Sadly, the Elden Ring DLC announcement contained no information as to when players can expect to dive into Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. Post-launch content for FromSoftware games often tend to release within the same year as the original game, so by the same logic, Elden Ring’s expansion is now well overdue.
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The name Shadow of the Erdtree implies that the titular tree has suffered some sort of ailment, and those of you who have finished Elden Ring will know the finer details. Players on Reddit have a multitude of theories, with one user pointing out that the tree featured in the artwork could be Miquella’s Haligtree – an existing location in the game.
Another user believes it to be the Black Lamplight tree, which is only hinted at in a single item description in Elden Ring – and thus, completely on brand for FromSoftware. Then there’s the small glimpse of what seems to be Miquella himself riding what seems to be the players mount, Torrent, in the lower right corner, indicating that he’ll play an important role. To what extent remains to be seen.
While I’ll admit it was a tad strange that the Elden Ring DLC reveal didn’t come during last week’s anniversary livestream, FromSoftware is a master at marketing its games and knows exactly what it’s doing. The announcement of Shadow of the Erdtree is the latest example of this. Just one name and one image has already been enough to send Elden Ring players into a frenzy, judging by the reddit threads springing up.
From the outside looking in it, I’m happy to see Elden Ring continue to build off its success and not rush out its first expansion just to capitalise on hype. So, despite the severe lack of hard details, I’m glad that FromSoftware isn’t rushing this one out. Hopefully it’ll prove just as popular as the main game.
