A recent Kadokawa financial report suggests that we've still got some time before Shadows of the Erdtree's release.
Despite a slew of curious Steam updates that have Elden Ring fans vibrating with anticipation for an imminent DLC release, FromSoftware's parent company, Kadokawa, has stepped in to crush those dreams.
In an FAQ section from a recent financial report, the company gave an update about the development status of Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC: "We are currently working hard on the development of DLC for Elden Ring but we have not announced a release date at this time."
Sorry, Elden Ring DLC truthers—that doesn't seem like the kind of thing you'd say if you were about to release an expansion on the RPG's two-year anniversary in a few weeks as some fans have started to believe. It's more likely the kind of statement you make to assure shareholders that development is going well. I wouldn't expect to see the DLC until sometime in the company's next fiscal year, which begins in April.
The report also notes that "various measures are currently in progress for Elden Ring, including the development of major DLC, to maximize [lifetime value]," at FromSoft. The mobile game that is reportedly in the works, according to a recent Reuters report, isn't mentioned anywhere. All Kadokawa confirms is that the DLC is still in development and that our collective resolve has to remain unbroken for a little longer.
A few months ago, Elden Ring producer Yasuhiro Kitao gave a similar update while accepting a Japanese PlayStation Partners award. "I'll talk about the DLC another time. It's still a little ways off, but progress is going well. Like Bloodborne's expansion, it has new battles and new characters: So please look forward to new things," Kitao said.
It's getting increasingly hard to wait patiently for new things, though. There are only so many innocuous backend Steam updates the community can take. Soon fans will go searching for Shadows of the Erdtree like the people who found those E.T. cartridges buried in the New Mexico desert. And those poor Souls bosses getting bullied every day until a release date is announced will continue to suffer. The only way to end all this is to drop the release date, FromSoft.
