Summary
The Shadow of the Erdtree DLC for 2022’s Game of the YearElden Ringhas potentially had its release date leaked by limited edition Xbox and Thrustmaster controllers. It’s been almost a whole year sinceElden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC was announced and Souls fans have been clamoring for any bit of new info since.
Shadow of the Erdtree’s announcement consisted of a simple tweet containing a single image which depicts a figure riding the players' steed Torrent through a field of wheat with what looks like a rotting Erdtree in the distance.Elden Ringfans have been speculating about whether the figure on Torrent is Miquella of the Haligtree, one of the Lands Between’s fabled demigods and the brother of one of the most ferocious Souls bosses ever, Malenia. There has also been much discussion overwhether Shadow of the Erdtree is set before or after the events ofElden Ring, and whether the rotting Erdtree is the same one that towered over the Lands Between in the base game. With the DLC forgoing appearances at Summer Game Fest and The Game Awards, fans are still left without any answers to these questions.
Nearly a year after it was first announced, a set of limited edition controllers have potentially leakedElden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree release date. On Twitter, Idle Sloth pointed to a limited editionElden RingThrustmaster controller set to be released in February. The page has since been taken down, but Sloth also brought up a new leaked image of an official Xbox limited-editionElden Ringcontroller stamped with a February 25 release date. If it’s real, Xbox could be synchronizing the launch of its controller withElden Ring’s DLC. It’s worth noting that February 25, whileElden Ring’s two-year anniversary, is a Sunday, and games and accessories typically don’t release over weekends.
Interestingly, Idle Sloth included another Thrustmaster image of two more controllers, a blue one based onElden Ring’s Ranni the Witchand a red one themed around Malenia. The graphic noted that both of these controllers will be aligned with a “major keybeat” or anotherElden Ringexpansion in 2025, year two of their collaboration. This seems to indicate that FromSoftware may have a secondElden RingDLC in the pipeline that could include Ranni and Melania, though nothing has been officially confirmed.
Now thatArmored Core 6has been outthe door for several months, it seems high time for FromSoftware to spill the beans on Shadow of the Erdtree. If not in February, as these leaks suggest, fans should expect the DLC to drop at some point this year. PerhapsElden Ringmay show up with a release date for Shadow of the Erdtree at the next PlayStation State of Play, which is rumored to take place next month.
Elden Ring
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ELDEN RING, developed by FromSoftware, Inc. and BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc., is a fantasy action-RPG adventure set within a world created by Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin. Danger and discovery lurk around every corner in FromSoftware’s largest game to date. Hidetaka Miyazaki - President and Game Director of FromSoftware Inc. Known for directing critically-acclaimed games in beloved franchises including Armored Core and Dark Souls.George R.R. Martin is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including the acclaimed series A Song of Ice and Fire - A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast For Crows, and A Dance with Dragons. As a writer-producer, he has worked on The Twilight Zone, Beauty and the Beast, and various feature films and pilots that were never made. He lives with the lovely Parris in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
