Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC: Everything we know

Elden Ring has already had the PvP-focused Colosseum DLC, with Shadow of the Erdtree lined up for later this year. Here’s everything we know about the upcoming Elden Ring DLC.

After its massive commercial and critical success, Elden Ring has players wanting more content in the form of DLC. With exciting rumors circulating from day one, we hoped FromSoft would continue their tradition of releasing vast expansions as they did for the rest of the Soulsborne franchise.

The free Colosseum update heralded the next phase of Elden Ring, and now fans are wondering what future DLC will look like. That question may have been answered as FromSoftware has revealed a fully-fledged expansion coming to the game. Previous FromSoftware titles have all taken a very different approach when it comes to downloadable content, but things can change.

There are also the Elden Ring endings to consider. Will the game be set after you become (or reject becoming) Elden Lord? Or could the DLC offer new endings to unlock or simply exist independently of them as some previous Souls expansions have?

Here’s everything we know about Elden Ring DLC based on rumors, leaks, FromSoftware/Bandai Namco’s track record, and what’s been announced so far.

Of course, as we’re discussing late and post-game content, spoilers will be lurking for those who’ve not completed Elden Ring.

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Contents

• Shadow of the Erd Tree
• Does the Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC have a release date?
• Elden Ring DLC rumors & leaks

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Players will finally get to enter the Colosseum.

Shadow of the Erd Tree DLC

After Elden Ring won the Game of the Year at the GOTY Awards, in his acceptance speech, Miyazaki said that “As for Elden Ring, we have several more things we want to do.”

We now know that the next DLC will be Shadow of the Erdtree which will likely continue the game’s story or offer a new substantial questline to follow.

According to data miner Lance McDonald, Shadow of the Erd Tree will be a sizable expansion, roughly the size of two separate DLC packs. This would make the content similar in scope to Bloodborne’s only DLC, The Old Hunters, a significant expansion that changed the whole fabric of the game, as well as offering a large new area to explore, new bosses, and story content.

Lance McDonald also reports that a planned Season Pass for Elden Ring featuring multiple smaller DLC packs was scrapped in favor of Shadow of the Erd Tree.

If Lance is correct then this could mean that Shadow of the Erd Tree ends up being the sole Elden Ring DLC, not counting the Colosseum update. The development time certainly lends weight to this idea.

Does the Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC have a release date?

Aside from smaller updates, the first major, likely paid, Elden Ring expansion DLC – Shadow of the Erdtree – is on the way, but FromSoftware has not confirmed a release window as of yet.

Shadow of the Erdtree first came to light on February 28, 2023, when a tweet was posted informing players that Elden Ring DLC was in development. The DLC started development soon after the base game was released, causing some outlets to assume the expansion was an entirely new project.

The DLC is likely to release sometime after From Software’s next Armored Core game, which is coming on August 25, 2023. Therefore, we estimate that the Elden Ring DLC will release either in late 2023 or sometime in 2024.

Outside of its stunning promotional image to go with the announcement, not much has been announced about Shadow of the Erdtree, but when we learn more, we’ll update this article as soon as possible.

Elden Ring DLC rumors & leaks

There’s also the possibility of further DLC after Shadow of the Erd Tree. While we don’t know if there will be, or what it would look like, here are some other rumors floating around the web. Of course, none of these are confirmed:

New bosses leak

Leaker Sekirodubi found clues hidden in the code of one of Elden Ring’s patches featuring information about potential upcoming content.

The update contains references to new items and hairstyles, but also up to 30 new bosses. As many as 16 new/NPC or enemy characters referred to as “Someone Yet Unseen” have also been spotted by the committed data miner.

Elden Dreams

As first reported by Eurogamer, data miner Lance McDonald has discovered that Elden Ring once contained items and quests that involved exploring the dreams of certain NPCs. While the content was cut from the main game, it could be saved for DLC.

In the cut content, an NPC called Monk Jiko asks the Tarnished to bring him something called Dream Mist. To get it, the player needs to invade the NPC’s dreams. This offers lots of creative possibilities and will allow players to fight literal nightmares, on top of all the other horrors that lurk in the Lands Between.

Extended endings

The DLC of Bandai Namco’s last two games with FromSoftware, Dark Souls, DS 2, and 3, featured DLC that extended the ending of the base game. However, it did so without contradicting or changing any ending the player had already unlocked.

The Three Crowns DLC in Dark Souls 2 allowed the player to complete an additional quest, once all 3 DLC packs had been completed, which unlocked a new ending. This one essentially gave the player a third option, on top of linking or rejecting the fire.

Those who completed both Dark Souls 3 DLC packs were treated to a complimentary ending, one which sat alongside any other ending the player had unlocked by playing the base game.

This one essentially offered the characters a way to escape the dying world by entering a painted world. It will be interesting to see how the Elden Ring DLC impacts the game’s various endings or the world we explore.

Elden Ring DLC bosses

Even if you hunt down every Shardbearer in Elden Ring, there’s one demigod that escapes your round of deicide. That is Miquella the Unalloyed, who’s still safely slumbering inside his egg when the credits roll.

Miquella is Malenia’s twin brother and is said to be the most powerful demigod in Elden Ring. So, if this is the case, why don’t we ever fight him? One answer is that we can obtain his shard of the Elden Ring by killing his captor and half-brother Mohg the Lord of Blood, so there’s no need to bother with him. Even Gideon Ofnir tells us to leave Miquella in peace, but was this short-sighted?

FromSoftware doesn’t do anything by accident when it comes to Souls bosses, therefore we suspect Miquella’s absence is by design. Let’s not forget, the demigod is slumbering in his egg to become powerful enough to fix his family, especially his sister, who he aims to cure of her scarlet rot.

He’s unlikely to be best pleased when he wakes up to find that a new Elden Lord has risen and slaughtered his whole family – including Malenia. This perfectly positions Miquella to be the big bad of any Elden Ring DLC. Not only is he growing in power, but he’s also going to have grudge against the Tarnished once he realizes what’s happened.

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So that’s everything we know so far about the Elden Ring DLC. For more on the biggest upcoming releases, check out our pages on some of the most-anticipated games that have been announced:

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