Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is over double the price of previous FromSoft DLCs, and is it weird that excites me?
As a wise man once said, just shut up and take my money.
Shadow of the Erdtree is dazzlingly, blisteringly real in the wake of yesterday's three-minute reveal trailer, and we now have more info about the expansion to 2022's game of the year than ever before. Its price, for instance. Unlike previous add-ons for FromSoft games, Erdtree is a whopping $40 (£35) over on Steam right now, or 80% of the price of Elden Ring itself.
That's a significant departure from FromSoft's previous pricing strategy for its Soulsborne DLCs. Dark Souls 3's duo of DLCs were $15 apiece when they launched, or $25 for both together in that game's season pass. Dark Souls 2? Same story. Its three DLCs were $10 each, or $25 for the season pass. Even sainted Bloodborne's Old Hunters DLC was a mere $20 on PS4.
But Shadow of the Erdtree—which FromSoft calls an expansion rather than DLC—is a full 40 bucks, and you know what? I find that a bit thrilling. I mentioned it before, but FromSoft games often reach their peaks in the expansions: Artorias in Dark Souls 1, the way The Ringed City serves as an exquisite bookend to Dark Souls as a whole. If the studio is going all-out with Elden Ring's expansion to the extent it's charging nearly the price of a full game for it, just imagine what wonders await within.
Or maybe this is just the end of Hidetaka Miyazaki's long con, and we'll soon spot him absconding over the border with a fat bag of lucre. That would also be funny.
We'll find out if Shadow of the Erdtree is worth the sticker price when it finally hits on June 21, but I admit I already have a good feeling about it. History would suggest FromSoft has something special prepped for us with this one, and we've already been hard at work trying to unpick just what it might be in our breakdown of the six reveals from the Shadow of the Erdtree trailer that have us very excited indeed.