The Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is potentially coming out soon. Even if FromSoftware won’t admit it, the studio is confirming the news in other ways.
There have been leaks aplenty when it comes to Shadow of the Erdtree. It’s not just “YouTuber says things based on context clues and historical precedent” like what was recently seen with Assassin’s Creed’s trip to Japan, either. There’s been plenty of that, but there’s also been multiple licensed merchandise manufacturers who all happen to have things coming out at the same time.
That said, the clearest sign comes from data mining. Hidden files on Steam can reveal a lot about any game, and Elden Ring is no different. The sheer number of files that are being added, changed, and moved shows that something big is coming. Potentially very soon.
Is the Elden Ring DLC coming out soon?
Data mining Steam shows hints that the Elden Ring DLC may be coming out soon. Elden Ring developers have been regularly changing, moving, or adding software packages related to DLC, quality assurance, and debugging, suggesting that there is a significant push being made toward a release for Shadow of the Erdtree.
The first sign of movement on this front came in December when software depots related to development, debugging, and quality assurance were all changed at once after going untouched for a long while. This came shortly before the 2023 Game Awards. While the 2022 Game Awards saw the announcement of Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon and the surprise reveal of the Elden Ring Colosseum Update, nothing ended up happening at the show.
Things continued happening on Steam, though. Following the changes to QA and debugging files in December, an unidentified app was added to the DLC section of Elden Ring’s Steam database in January. On Feburary 2, 2024, files were moved from Elden Ring’s DLC section to the debug section. This suggests that Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is in its final stages of development and may be coming out soon.
As for what qualifies as “soon,” that is still unclear but fans will likely find out a definite release date in the coming weeks.
Though FromSoftware has yet to reveal anything other than the initial piece of concept art, gaming hardware manufacturer Thrustmaster explicitly stated that the Elden Ring DLC is coming out in February 2024. This came in listings for officially licensed Elden Ring controllers for Xbox consoles, with marketing materials saying that the controllers’ release would come alongside the launch of Shadow of the Erdtree. It also stated that there will be more Elden Ring DLC coming in 2025.
Thrustmaster wasn’t alone as collectibles manufacturer PureArts announced that it would be releasing Elden Ring figures in February 2024.
While nothing is certain and it’s possible that a delay happened somewhere along the way, there are a lot of signs pointing toward the idea of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree coming out this month.
