At this point, almost every gamer is aware of FromSoftware’s open-world action RPG Elden Ring, which launched on February 25 to an incredible level of critical acclaim. The Japanese developer’s latest Soulsborne title had been on fans' radars for years and was considered one of the highest rated games of all time upon release. Within a couple of weeks, Elden Ring had become the bestselling game in the US and other countries.
Although that status may change as more incredible titles come out in 2022, the game’s successful launch will likely not soon be forgotten. Many fans expect Elden Ring to be a contender for Game of the Year awards in December, and some are already clamoring for DLC.
Despite some players review bombing Elden Ring to bring down its aggregate score on sites like Metacritic, the game has recently hit a noteworthy sales milestone. Earlier this month, FromSoftware announced that Elden Ring has now sold one million copies in Japan and 12 million worldwide. For perspective, that impressive number was reached after less than three weeks. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard hit 10 million units sold after almost five years on the market, Team Ninja’s Nioh reached 5 million copies sold after four years, and Horizon Zero Dawn sold 7.6 million copies in its first year.
President and CEO of FromSoftware Hidetaka Miyazaki said, “It’s astonishing to see just how many people have been playing Elden Ring… Thank you for your continued support.” CEO of Bandai Namco Yasuo Miyakawa stated that he would “like to take this opportunity to give my thanks to all our fans who have brought Elden Ring into their gaming life.” Previously, Miyazaki had said that he was nervous about Elden Ring’s release, stating that game launches have often been “unpleasant” for him. In 2016, he shared his hope to surpass the Souls series with FromSoftware’s next game.
Many fans of the developer and Souls-likes in general seem to feel that Elden Ring accomplished just that. A number of particularly skillful gamers have already completed the game, unlocking the PlayStation’s platinum trophy on the way. Some players are already challenging themselves to zero death runs, and Elden Ring speedrunners have beaten the game in as little as 30 minutes.
Others have also been busy adding adjustments to the PC version of the game, creating mods to pause the game, add an easy mode or, conversely, a hard mode. There is even a peaceful Elden Ring mod that adds a photo mode, which has the added perk of making players invisible to enemies so that they can enjoy the game’s varied, eye-catching environments without interruption.
Elden Ring is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: FromSoftware