
Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC released on all platforms last Friday, and it's already sold a quite frankly absurd amount of copies. Yep, despite being a $40 expansion to a $60 game that requires plenty of progress to access, Shadow of the Erdtree has shifted five million units already - and the team says it reached that number in just three days. Madness!
Mind you, such an achievement seems merited. The critics were incredibly impressed by the expansion at launch, and in fact, it's now the top-rated Xbox release of 2024 so far. It might not be a full game, but Shadow of the Erdtree is taking the gaming world by storm, just as the base game did two years ago.
Having said all of this, its launch hasn't been without issue. Alongside some PC performance problems, some players have taken issue with even higher difficulty levels presented by FromSoftware. The team is already listening though, and it's made some small tweaks to the overall balance of the DLC already.
Anyway, we must congratulate FromSoftware here because that seems like a silly amount of $40 DLC copies to sell in less than half a week. Souls fans are being treated well these days, and it seems that the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion is yet another win for FromSoftware.
Have You Bought Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree Yet? (183 votes)
- Yeah, I was there day one!
- No, but I'm getting it soon
- I might get it when it goes on sale
- I have no plans to buy Shadow of the Erdtree
Are you one of the millions to already grab the Elden Ring expansion? Vote in the poll and let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Comments 18
I'll get it very soon looks great!
Bought it day 1 but waiting for a friend to get back from holiday to play it as we played through the base game together.
It’s ‘number’ of copies, not ‘amount.’
Very impressive numbers.
...I really, really have to give ER another go but for some reason(s) just doesn't seem to keep me engaged like Sekiro or the DS trilogy did....hopefully one day 😁.
Don't understand the Souls genre and confused on its popularity.
@dreadful I "get" the genre, but I'm also confused on its popularity. By definition it's extremely niche, and Fromsoft isn't really shy about doubling down on its niche-nes, to the point of having no interest in ensuring those outside the niche can even attempt to enjoy the game and actively rejecting the idea.
Which is all fine and good, I get it, but what I don't get it how it manages to sell the way it does. ER base game sold on pure hype to unsuspecting poor fools that didn't know what they were getting into. And to me who has bought every single From game despite rage quitting 20% into all of them due to some of their asinine BS design that people seem to love and defend for some reason.
But the expansion that requires you to have beat the base game selling like crazy doesn't make sense to me - unless - it's basically the die-hard from obsessives that live sleep and breath Fromsoft, eager to preorder it the moment it's available and then after that nobody else cares at all. Like maybe that 3 day sales total will be 90% of their total sales. Pretty much all preorders to the hardcore and then minimal sales (other than bundle sales) afterward. Otherwise, I don't get it.
I did buy it. I played it for about 5-6 hours. Just can't seem to progress. I got 100% completion/achievements on Elden Ring but just can't seem to get into this. Maybe I'll continue playing it at some point.
@NEStalgia @dreadful You have to push through. The constant anxiety is a feature not a symptom.
It's popular because it's the most immersive game. Nothing comes close. You will always be vulnerable but a mix of levelling, better gear and increased health items makes the job which seems insurmountable at first, less intimidating.
I didn't enjoy dark souls or bloodborne, elden ring has similar onboarding, as in its bloody hard, but you have significantly better options when it comes to improving your character.
You both really should give it another go. The key is levelling up a lot. And running away when things go south. Don't focus on the dungeons, focus on discovering a relatively easy target to level up from. Don't listen to the Internet, over level whenever you can. The game is no joke. Use summons when they become available. Run round big bad things and take on smaller things.
I never ran round naked with a pot on my head. But I did finish the game 3 times massively levelled up hit trading with most bosses.
I bought it day 1. Got to the Divine Dancing Lion and I’ve sank about 4 hours trying to down it so far with no luck. Why is the first real boss feel harder than anything in the base game? Man, the one-shot combo this thing does makes me so mad. But yet I still play… can’t stop…
@NEStalgia mild correction, your don’t above to beat the base game to access the DLC just two bosses.
I’ve bought every From Soulsborne game too and usually got decently far in them but would fall off. This one held my attention from start to finish, even with being burnt out on the genre of game. The exploration is done better than any other open world game, in my opinion. What I truly adore about it though, is that I’ve never truly gotten stuck in the game. You can come across a boss, enemy, or area that is just wrecking you left and right, but all you have to do is go explore somewhere else and return later. That’s a huge advantage, to me, over other games in the genre where you come across a boss and you’re stuck there until you take them down. The game still isn’t for everyone, I won’t pretend like it is, but I know people who refused to ever play a game in the genre but picked it up because of hype and ended up platinuming it.
@somnambulance I came across Rellana first, even though I explored Belurat first, I eventually left and went to the dungeon Rellana is in. I got stuck on her, so I went and finished out Belurat until I came across the Divine Beast Dancing Lion, it took me several tries but I got through it MUCH quicker than Rellana.
i think i am the only person in the world that can't enjoy this game no matter how much i try...
@themcnoisy @Odium Yeah elden ring specifically I really like the overall game and the open world. It's like a true realization of Zelda 1 in a lot of ways. I was really getting into it until it starts putting you into the normal linear dungeons. Then the rage kicks in. The real problem isnt the difficulty. It's the wasted time redoing what you've already done and the fact that the trial and error design, which is horrible, horrible game design no matter that the Internet claims, forces you to keep redoing what you've already done instead of retrying the challenge you failed. For me, on retry, I'm angry. 2 retries I'm enraged and sloppy. 3 retries I want my money and my time back.
I'm definitely modding easy mode to enjoy the game my way once I go pc. And trying a vr mod though.....
@NEStalgia Some of that criticism is fair. As I mentioned the onboarding is tough. And early game I think you are much too weak. Levelling is slow and a slight boost would help. Maybe the earlier levels requiring 25% less souls than default.
You have to consolidate your wins by farming for easy kills to level up. Going into a main dungeon and losing all your experience/ souls is grim, but you shouldn't prioritise that in dungeons. You need to focus on finding a bonfire / save point.
Without the anxiety of loss, the game loses its shine.
are all these people even to the point in the game where they can access the dlc?
I’m not and don’t really want to go back. I’m looking forward to Elden ring 2 or whatever Miyazaki does next tho.
@countmeout username is accurate!
@jesse_dylan you made me laugh man 😁
I rarely replay games but I'm replaying Elden Ring now, and will start the DLC on my new char when I get there. My first character was ready to rock, I want to say level 168 when I beat the game, but want to do it all over again. I'm definitely going through it a LOT faster this time around, not doing a fraction of the exploring, until I hit the DLC.
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