Elden Ring releasing in June at first seems plausible, because the leaked launch is on a Tuesday, a common release day for big titles. However, when looking back at the development schedules and release times of previous FromSoftware games, there are some other patterns that quickly cast doubt on the projected release date. To calculate when Elden Ring will launch, it’s a good idea look back on the development time, announcement schedule, and launch dates of FromSoftwares last three big titles: BloodBorne, Dark Souls 3, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
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Despite working with various publishers and launching on a multitude of platforms, FromSoftware is a remarkably consistent developer. BloodBorne in 2015, Dark Souls 3 in 2016, and Sekiro in 2019 all had consistent quality, and FromSoftware’s signature feel honed to near perfection. Recent years have seen some of FromSoftware’s best games, and as time goes on, the developer only seems to get better at dense level design and experiential storytelling. As will be seen, it is extremely consistent in its development time and release schedule as well.
FromSoftware’s Development and Release Schedule
Bloodborne, the oldest of the titles being discussed, began its development in 2012, around the time that development on Dark Souls: Prepare to Die edition with all its included DLC was wrapping up. BloodBorne is especially significant because it was FromSoftware’s first departure in many years from traditional dark fantasy, trading in a lovecraftian horror element and focusing on more aggressive, fast combat than previous titles. While Bloodborne may not get a sequel, it had its own iconic charm and certainly paved the way for both Dark Souls 3 and Sekiro. Bloodborne was announced in June of 2014, and launched in March of 2015, giving it a development time of about three years and roughly 10 months between its announcement and launch.
Dark Souls 3 began development in mid 2013, right after Dark Souls II concluded. It was heavily influenced by Bloodborne, mixing fast paced combat with classic Dark Souls heft to perfect the formula and finish off the trilogy with the best Dark Souls out of the three. It had some truly punishing DLCs and some of the most difficult areas in Dark Souls, but rewarded players with a perfect conclusion to the series. It was in development for 3 years, launching in March-April of 2016 depending on region, a bit over 10 months after its announcement at E3 2015.
Lastly, Sekiro was FromSoftware’s most recent title. It began its development in 2015 after the last of BloodBorne’s DLC was launched, and it was the most ambitious title the studio had made up until then. With a totally new artstyle and completely different combat and traversal, it allowed FromSoftware to hone its level design even further and stun players with incredible, unfamiliar artwork. Classic FromSoftware difficulty stayed the same, and Sekiro was even more difficult than previous titles in some ways. It had the longest development time yet, at 4 years. It was teased in 2017, but the title was announced in 2018, 15 months before its launch in March of 2019.
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There is a clear pattern here. FromSoftware games, not including DLCs, take a little over 3 years to develop, and maybe a bit more if they are especially ambitious. They always seem to launch in March, but on one occasion had an extended launch, coming out a bit later in the states than in Japan. Mirroring the development time, 10 months between announcement and launch is the norm, with 15 months given to Sekiro.
Predicting Elden Ring’s Launch
So, how does Elden Ring fit into this pattern? The game apparently began development in 2017, was announced at E3 in June of 2019, and its leaked release date is June of 2020. That would mean it’s been in development for over 3 years, and would have about 12 months between its announcement and launch. At first this seems like great news. The game is right on schedule, fitting very neatly in with the pattern discussed above, except for a release date one month after FromSoftware’s traditional timeframe. However, Elden Ring is FromSoftware’s most ambitious title yet, and if it doesn’t release in the next month or two, it will likely be another full year until it releases.
There are a few reasons to expect a longer time until launch. While it might seem like FromSoftware are going back to its roots with this title, Elden Ring will have new lore sourced from George RR Martin, as well as a slightly different inspiration for its setting. It will have different combat and system, and looks to include aspects of Norse mythology into its worldbuilding. It will have the largest world and a wealth of new lore to craft, making it far more likely to take longer to release.
Even with Elden Ring’s lore linked heavily to Norse mythology, combined with more robust RPG mechanics and a bigger world, FromSoftware may yet surprise everyone and launch their game within 2020. The time is fast approaching that such expectations should be laid to rest, though. No matter what, Elden Ring likely will be an incredible game, but for now it is safer to assume that it will be a long time before anyone will get to see it.
Elden Ring is currently in development for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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title: “Predicting Elden Ring S Release Date” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-06” author: “James Griffin”
For starters, FromSoftware recently issued a statement on Elden Ring’s development. Its Twitter account did express gratitude towards the Elden Ring community late last year. While it didn’t specifically give an update on Elden Ring, there were some very magic words," See you in 2021." As is now confirmed, fans will get a glimpse of Elden Ring in 2021, if not their hands on it. With that out of the way, it’s safe to say that there is plenty of info lying around that indicates that Elden Ring’s release is right around the corner.
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How FromSoftware Handles Their Releases
FromSoftware has a few internal teams that allow the studio to work simultaneously on multiple projects at the same time. This is clearly indicated by the releases of Dark Souls 2 in 2014, Bloodborne in 2015, and Dark Souls 3 in 2016. Ideally, Elden Ring should have released in 2020, following the release of Sekiro Shadows Die Twice in 2019. However, Elden Ring is the studio’s largest title yet, and it’s hard not to imagine it being in development for a relatively longer time than the company’s previous titles. Moreover, the ongoing pandemic undoubtedly affected the game’s development as the company was forced to work from home.
FromSoftware seems to follow a strict release schedule if its prior releases are any indication. The company’s last four projects have all released in March with both Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3 had a release date of March 24, 2015, and 2016 respectively. If Elden Ring follows a similar route, which ideally it should, then players can expect Elden Ring to drop sometime in March. If that ends up being the case, players can expect a story trailer of a sort in early February, similar to the ones that released for Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, and Sekiro Shadows Die Twice. This would be a surprisingly quick turnaround time, something fans should consider, but at the same time, FromSoftware’s pedigree alone has built up a ton of hype for Elden Ring.
Elden Ring 2021 Release
Even without all of these speculations, there are enough leaks and evidence present to justify an early 2021 release. For starters, Elden Ring’s development started right after Dark Souls 3, which means the game has been in development for at least three years. Similar info was provided by Italian Journalist Francesco Fossetti, an editor for Evereye, who claimed that Elden Ring has been in development for over four years and is currently in the polishing stage. According to him, the game would have released by now if not for the ongoing global pandemic, and this has been echoed in a few other
The most concrete evidence that Elden Ring is not far from release comes from Xbox head Phil Spencer. Back in November, Spencer confirmed that Elden Ring is playable and that he has “played quite a bit” of it. He even went on to call Elden Ring the most ambitious FromSoftware title to date.
While none of the aforementioned details directly confirms or deny that Elden Ring is launching in early 2021, it points out that the game has been in the oven for quite some time now. With the availability of PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, it would be interesting to see how FromSoftware manages a cross-gen release, and how efficiently Elden Ring’s open-world structure takes advantage of the next-gen capabilities of these systems, if/when it receives upgrades for these systems. Now, while all signs point toward an early, maybe even March release, there is one big thing to consider: this is Elden Ring. There have been places fans have been sure it would appear and it didn’t, and March could easily follow suit. Nonetheless, “see you in 2021” hopefully means hands-on and not just a friendly wave.
Elden Ring is in development for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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