Elden Ring has already surpassed 12 million copies sold; this is an incredible feat for an ostensibly single-player fantasy game with an emphasis on punishing difficulty. Elden Ring is the bestselling game of the year in the US so far, and as such the development heads from both FromSoftware and Bandai Namco wanted to thank the fans for their support.
Elden Ring’s sales figures are the result of a perfect storm in the works for the past decade. FromSoftware achieved cult appeal with Demon’s Souls on the PS3, but it was the Dark Souls series that truly brought this style of game into the collective gaming consciousness. Only a reputation of high difficulty kept some players away despite constant praise for the series. But now Elden Ring is a fresh IP with a Breath of the Wild-esque open world, and so more new players are deciding that this is the time to try out a FromSoftware game.
In a press release announcing the sales milestone, Director of FromSoftware Hidetaka Miyazaki says he is “astonished” by how many people are playing Elden Ring. He has commented before on new players running up against Elden Ring’s difficulty for the first time, but hopes that players enjoy “adventuring through its vast world, exploring its many secrets and facing up to its many threats.” The CEO of Bandai Namco, Yasuo Miyakawa also issued a thank you to fans with some cryptic hints at the future of the Elden Ring IP.
Mr. Miyakawa stated that he is “very proud to have been involved in bringing such a wonderful and fantastic game to life.” He then hinted that Bandai Namco is currently working on “expanding the brand beyond the game itself and into everyone’s daily life.” What form this expansion will take is unclear, but with Elden Ring as popular as it is, right now is the perfect time to capitalize upon the IP.
It is as yet unconfirmed whether Elden Ring will have DLC content. FromSoftware has precedent in releasing vast DLCs for the Dark Souls series, to which Elden Ring is a kind of spiritual successor. However, Yasuo Miyakawa’s statement in the press release mentions expansions beyond the game. What form this could take is open to speculation. Bandai Namco recently announced it was developing its own metaverse project, and an Elden Ring-inspired element of this project could be what Miyakawa was referencing.
Expanding Elden Ring into daily life doesn’t exactly hint at a film or TV show adaptation like with The Last of Us TV series. Also, Elden Ring could have too cryptic a story to adapt to screen. A novel or a series of comic books could work for the title, however. After all, the lore was written by George R.R. Martin and, like with most FromSoftware games, parallels to the long-running Berzerk manga series are evident throughout Elden Ring's world.
Elden Ring is available now PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.