The second part of Elden Ring's official guide from Future Press has been delayed, with the language used potentially hinting at a release window for its DLC. Because the game is so colossal, Future Press had previously announced its Elden Ring guidebook would contain two parts: Volume I and Volume II. The first copy is set to hit Europe within the next week and the US in early November. The second was originally supposed to follow it, not by a huge stretch, but Future Press recently announced its delay.
Future Press recently confirmed that Volume II of its Elden Ring guidebook has been delayed until early 2023, notably not putting a specific release window. It should be noted that these titles have already been a bit delayed as it is, as Volume I was slated to release over the summer and Volume II to release in the fall. Thus, a new delay isn't necessarily surprising, but the rationale is noteworthy.
Future Press explained that Volume II is being delayed so that the book is "include[s] all there is to know at the time of publication, making it accurate and useful long after its release." At first glance, many would think that this perhaps involves the variety of patches coming to Elden Ring still. However, no book is ever going to have all of this information as handy as the internet, and if this was the case, then Volume I would be debunked with the next major patch too. With this in mind, it seems the delay could reasonably relate to something that would appear in Volume II of a guide, especially as this portion deals with the various armaments and creatures fans will face throughout the game, and that makes Elden Ring DLC seem all the more likely. It would no doubt introduce more of these.
It's clear that FromSoftware is hard at work on post-launch support, with that likely including DLC too. FromSoftware often releases DLC for its games, and so it would be a major surprise if it didn't with Elden Ring's success. Oftentimes, FromSoftware DLC is harder than the base game, and imagining Elden Ring DLC boss fights that are tougher than Malenia is exciting. And if Volume II is coming in early 2023, then presumably DLC would beforehand. This way, this guidebook would indeed be "accurate and useful long after its release."
At the same time, it's possible that Future Press' delay has nothing to do with Elden Ring DLC. It's hard to say for sure, but fans will hopefully learn something soon if DLC is releasing within this window.
Elden Ring is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.