Shadow of the Erdtree, the DLC of Elden Ring, has just been released a few hours ago and has already boasted impressive player numbers on Steam. The first reviews from users have also come in. What is the mood?
How did the release go? The wait finally ended yesterday, on 20.04.2024. Fans of Elden Ring around the world were able to dive into the big expansion, starting at different times depending on the time zone. In Germany, it began at midnight.
Prior to that was update 1.12, the patch notes of which you can read on MeinMMO. With that, the game was brought up to date and everything was prepared for the DLC.
And then it was time: Countless players flooded into the dark shadow land, ready to despair again at the new, challenging bosses. Together with those still playing the main game, there were already over 550,000 players simultaneously on Steam shortly after release (via steamdb.com). This is impressive for an expansion that costs 40 Euros and is usually only started in the late game.
Additionally, a large part of the players had not even met the requirements for the DLC. By the way, the peak number of simultaneous users in Elden Ring is 953,426 in the main game. Whether this record can be repeated or even surpassed next weekend remains to be seen.
The reviews speak a clear language
How is the DLC received? Over half a million players at the same time is one thing – but what do users think about the expansion?
So far, the DLC has received over 3,800 reviews on Steam (as of 21.06.2024). This results in an average of “very positive”. Overall, 92 % of the reviews are positive.
The written reviews on Steam are largely in agreement. Although most players have only spent a few hours in the roughly 40-hour DLC, they are already expressing their opinions.
- “The DLC is probably better than most AAA games this year….Is it possible for a DLC to get G.O.T.Y. ???”, writes FaTale Schalbe.
- “This level design/world building is incredible. The base game was fantastic, but this is simply peak gaming,” finds Jonas.
- “Absolutely fantastic. If Elden Ring is a 10/10, this is easily an 11/10,” says kripipl.
After just a few hours of gameplay, the DLC has managed to win over many players.
Are there any dissenting voices? Yes, there are. The user SlendySlasher does not agree with the exclusive praise. While he finds many aspects of the expansion great and is also enjoying it, he criticizes the difficulty of the later bosses and especially that their health bars are absurdly large.
Some players thus label the difficulty as “artificial”. Technical issues such as frame drops also lead to negative reviews. These could possibly be addressed with upcoming patches.
Overall, the mood is positive and the interest in the DLC is high. Have you played it yet? How do you like the new areas, weapons, abilities, and bosses? Feel free to let us know in the comments. You can find all the information about the expansion on MeinMMO.
