The upcoming expansion for Elden Ring, the most GOTY’d game in gaming history, is the most highly anticipated DLC to be released in recent memory. Naturally, one of the questions some are asking about Shadow of the Erdtree is about its size as well as its scope. And, while FromSoftware has yet to reveal more details about the premium post-launch content, its lead designer might have let us in on a secret.
According to the LinkedIn profile of Kenneth Chan, FromSoftware started working on Shadow of the Erdtree at least a year ago, which is right around two months after Elden Ring came out.
Ironically, it was also roughly the same time that Elden Ring set a new record for the best-selling FromSoftware game of all time – a feat it has eclipsed since.
There isn’t a set timeline on how long a DLC should stay in development. But, to give you some context, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivision’s expansion, Shivering Isles, spent at least a year and a half in development and added roughly around 30 hours worth of content to the game. On the other hand, Blood and Wine, the full-game-sized expansion for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, took over a year to make and finish and it’s widely considered the icing on the cake for the award-winning 2015 title.
This isn’t to say that Shadow of the Erdtree is as good as Blood and Wine or Shivering Isles but the amount of time it has spent in the lab (and the fact that it was initially believed to be a different game that FromSoftware was working on) implies a meaty expansion.
It’s safe to say that fans are in for a treat with Shadow of the Erdtree.
Unfortunately, FromSoftware didn’t reveal when we’ll find out more about the second post-launch content for Elden Ring. The first one, Colosseum, was a free update that was stealth-released last December, which added multiple PvP arenas to the open-world action RPG. If we’re being honest, it wouldn’t surprise us if FromSoftware did the same thing again albeit with no surprises this time around as Shadow of the Erdtree is expected to fetch the standard expansion price of $14.99 if not a bit more.
With that said, FromSoftware has definitely had a busy year after releasing Elden Ring, and its schedule isn’t expected to clear up anytime soon.
At the moment, FromSoftware is working hard to prepare Armored Core VI: The Fires of Rubicon ahead of its recently-revealed release date on August 25.
