Is Dark Souls 2 multiplayer going offline? Yes, but also no

Dark Souls 2 multiplayer servers are going offline, but only on certain platforms.

Dark Souls 2 was initially released in March 2014 and was notable for its continued innovations of multiplayer elements in the Souls franchise. Its updated version, Scholar of the First Sin, was From Software’s first foray into the next generation of consoles.

This also meant that Dark Souls 2 was the last FromSoftware game to be released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Despite that, support for the online multiplayer aspect of Dark Souls 2 continued unabated, with a tiny but dedicated number of players continuing to play on the older consoles. Now, their time has come to an end.

Is Dark Souls 2 multiplayer going offline?

Dark Souls 2’s PS3 and Xbox 360 multiplayer servers will be permanently going offline on March 31, 2024.  After 10 years of active service, the final remnants of FromSoftware’s games will be gone from those older consoles. That said, offline play will continue to be available to players, unlike the likes of Ubisoft’s The Crew which will be entirely unavailable after its servers go down.

Although the older generation of consoles will no longer enjoy multiplayer, modern platform players don’t need to worry. PC, PS4, and Xbox One servers for Dark Souls 2 will continue to run as usual.  There was no official reason given for the servers shutting down, but it can be speculated that the player base for those platforms has dipped low enough that continuing server support no longer made sense, especially with the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S now available. 

Will Dark Souls 2 get a remake?

Dark Souls 2 currently has no official remake planned.  Although Scholar of the First Sin was officially a remaster of Dark Souls 2, it came out only a year after the game’s initial release. Dark Souls 2 is notably one of the most controversial Souls titles, with many noting that the story and level design could have been improved relative to other games in the series, on top of the many technical issues that were left unsolved by its remaster.

FromSoftware has taken a break from the Dark Souls franchise of late, with the last mainline release, Dark Souls 3, coming back in 2016. Although Elden Ring and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice were massive successes for the studio, Dark Souls fans are still clamoring for some kind of official return to the franchise. A Dark Souls 2 remake might just be what the fans needed.