FromSoftware earlier announced Shadow of the Erdtree expansion for Elden Ring and gave it a June 21 release date. While fans of the franchise are already looking forward to it, it is important to mention that it would be the game’s only expansion.
Hidetaka Miyazaki, the CEO and game director of FromSoftware recently granted an interview with the Chinese website Zhihu where he talked about the company’s plans for Elden Ring. The company is not ruling out the possibility of a sequel.
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“We don’t want to say this is the end of the Elden Ring saga for now,” Miyazaki told IGN in February. “I think we said a similar thing at the end of Dark Souls 3. We didn’t want to flatten those possibilities or put a pin in them just at that time. And it’s a similar story with Elden Ring. “We don’t want to discourage the possibilities for that. There might be more ideas in the future.”
During the announcement of Shadow of the Erdtree, FromSoftware also confirmed that it would be the largest DLC in the history of the company. Miyazaki was asked why the studio decided to have one large DLC rather than several DLCs.
In response, he said the DLC was not really a different project but part of the main game. However, since the content became too large to fit into the main body, they had to trim it down. Further justifying having one big DLC rather than several DLCs, Miyazaki said it helped to preserve the exploration experience of the game.
“Elden Ring emphasizes the exploration and adventure of the big world,” Miyazaki said, as translated by GameBaba Universe. “In order to provide such an experience, a vast and huge scene is inevitably needed. Therefore, instead of splitting it into several parts, it is better to simply make one big. If they were sold separately, the freedom of exploration and sense of adventure would be reduced.”
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The approach that FromSoftware has taken with Elden Ring is different from how they had approached Dark Souls. Dark Souls had three DLCs which made it harder for fans of Elden Ring to understand why the developer has limited it to one DLC.
The game’s publisher Bandai Namco recently said Elden Ring had shipped 23 million copies in two years. Shadow of the Erdtree will bring fresh story, world, and deeper RPG features, according to FromSoftware. The DLC will cost $40 and will need the base game installed.
The choices of Elden Ring will not affect Shadow of the Erdtree
One of the main concerns of some players was whether the choice of the ending of the main game would affect the DLC. However, Miyazaki mentioned that Shadow of the Erdtree will be independent of the base game to a large extent.
Miyazaki also mentioned that although Shadow of the Erdtree will have alternate endings, it will not be as many as the base game. However, “players will still have to face some choices during the game”, Miyazaki said.
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Also, players don’t necessarily need to finish the base game before jumping into the DLC. The point of entry for the DLC will be defeating Starscourge Radahn and Mohg, Lord of Blood. Miyazaki suggested completing the DLC afterward before coming back to the main story.
In the interview with Zhihu, Miyazaki reiterated that while Shadow of the Erdtree will be the first and last DLC the game will have, they are not closing the door to the IP and will keep it open for the future.
“It is the first and last DLC,” Miyazaki said. “We have no plans to add more content to Elden Ring. But it has not yet been decided whether the entire story of Elden Ring will be the focus. FromSoftware’s style of doing things is that it generally does not allow the future of an IP to be easily locked, but it is better to leave some possibilities. But as far as Shadow of the ErdTree is concerned, it is the only DLC.”
