Elden Ring sales surpass 12 million copies worldwide

[Shawn Knight]

Editor's take: Bandai Namco had high expectations for Elden Ring, but even the publisher has to be over the moon with how well the game has sold thus far. We're only a few months in, but it's already a top candidate for game of the year thanks to its excellent gameplay and smooth launch.

Bandai Namco during a Q&A session with investors late last year said they anticipated selling four million copies of the game within the first five weeks of launch. That would have been impressive considering Dark Souls III shipped around three million copies in roughly the same period of time, but Elden Ring smashed all expectations.

Developer FromSoftware has revealed that since the game's launch on February 25, more than 12 million copies have been sold worldwide including more than a million in Japan alone (through March 14, 2022). The developer credited the simultaneous release of the game in 14 languages (Steam only) and closed network tests conducted ahead of launch as being instrumental in its early success.

According to SteamDB, the game peaked at 953,426 concurrent players on March 5 and is the third most-played game on the platform with 589,170 players right now. Elden Ring has also earned a Metacritic score of 96 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X (95 on PC).

Elden Ring was directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki in collaboration with George R. R. Martin. It was originally scheduled to land on January 21 but was delayed by one month.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/93803-elden-ring-sales-surpass-12-million-copies-worldwide.html

 

[fluffydroid]

Hey From software, I would love to pick up the game. Just add an easy mode similar to the vita chamber in Bioshock.

 

[polord]

Hey From software, I would love to pick up the game. Just add an easy mode similar to the vita chamber in Bioshock.

There is an easy mod for that…

 

[scavengerspc]

Hey From software, I would love to pick up the game. Just add an easy mode similar to the vita chamber in Bioshock.

I grew tired of the practice of trading fun for difficulty after I beat Dark souls 2, but from what I'm hearing Elden Ring is tough (no surprise) but fair (big surprise) and fun to play (biggest surprise).

 

[George Keech]

I grew tired of the practice of trading fun for difficulty after I beat Dark souls 2, but from what I'm hearing Elden Ring is tough (no surprise) but fair (big surprise) and fun to play (biggest surprise).

That's always why I felt I could never get into Dark Souls. It felt a lot of the difficulty was artificial. Like I was fighting with the game rather than the boss'

 

[nnguy2]

That's always why I felt I could never get into Dark Souls. It felt a lot of the difficulty was artificial. Like I was fighting with the game rather than the boss'

The hardest boss in any FROM game is Bad Camera Angle.

 

[scavengerspc]

That's always why I felt I could never get into Dark Souls. It felt a lot of the difficulty was artificial. Like I was fighting with the game rather than the boss'

The staff of From should study Radiant Silvergun for an example of damn hard but fair.

Not only are Souls games difficulty artificial, but they are out-and-out the master of cheap shot deaths.

And I have been gaming since the Atari 2600, though I was too young to actually play it.

 

[McMurdeR]

The staff of From should study Radiant Silvergun for an example of damn hard but fair.

Not only are Souls games difficulty artificial, but they are out-and-out the master of cheap shot deaths.

And I have been gaming since the Atari 2600, though I was too young to actually play it.

...and yet everyone loves them. There's a definite marmite quality to their games, but they're very beautiful and incredibly compelling, and the uncompromising nature of them is undeniably a fresh change from the formulaic stuff we're all used to.

 

[HardReset]

Candidate for game of the year? Game has high Metacritic score because only people that review this game are From Software fans. Considering game has no real story, it runs badly, is buggy and content is mostly pointless running or grinding, "normal" reviewer would give it at most 7/10. But every From Software fan reviewer gives it 10/10. This game is good example where Metacritic scores alone are useless.

Just like Dark Souls Prepare to Die edition on PC. Technically about worst PC port Ever. And Metacritic? 85

 

[dangh]

Hey From software, I would love to pick up the game. Just add an easy mode similar to the vita chamber in Bioshock.

No need, they will do well without you.

 

[Robkaminski]

Only me that found the game boring then? It's basically just running around killing bosses, no real content.

 

[scavengerspc]

...and yet everyone loves them. There's a definite marmite quality to their games, but they're very beautiful and incredibly compelling

So true, and I'm glad you made that point since I neglected to.
I think the draw is for people to be able to say they beat the games.

Only me that found the game boring then? It's basically just running around killing bosses, no real content.

No, a lot of people found it boring, and I'm one of them. Though I did play through 2 Souls games.

I have said it before, but when you finally complete a section or fight, you don't feel a sense of accomplishment as much as one of relief.

 

[Mr Majestyk]

It's the only souls games that has appealed to me. I like it's not overly oppressive like the Dark Souls games and more open world. This my first attempt at a souls game and while I suck I'm doing ok so far, having finished Limgrave and Liurnia and beaten all bosses so far. I still have one or two tunnels and catacombs to finish. Having the horse really helps fight against the giant bosses like dragons.

I wish they'd make several quality of life fixes though. No ability to compare items in shop, no pause, gimped bow damage. Also how about tailoring drops to the class your playing. You go to the Academy of Raya Lucaria as a melee and for all your effort you get nothing you can use, staffs and gear for wizard builds only. Even Diablo 3 tuned the drops to your class.

Armor sucks arse, can't upgrade it and everything decent is much heavier which means more endurance points. Camera is way too sensitive. Merchants suck too, their range of items is a joke.

I know it's about strategy and patience but they need to get with the times, I mean we only just got jumping in a souls game.

 

[kenny loris]

This feeling you get while playing this game is something that I personally cant put it in words. It feels like that makers were actually there and narrated the whole game as if they were a part of it thoroughly.

 

[Sausagemeat]

I get why people like it, the bosses are super hard and you feel a genuine sense of achievement when you beat them. But it’s not for me, I find dying over and over very repetitive and when I finally do beat the boss I just feel like I won against an opponent who cheats. Because many times you die because something happened that you had no way of predicting etc, making it a bit of a trial and error exercise.

But its super popular, I’m in a clear minority.

 

[FaTaL]

17 hours played and I can safely say its a masterpiece. Best game since Skyrim...without question.
I never played souls games, but elden ring reminds me of games back in the 90s... you know, the ones where you actually had to think and discover sh!t out for yourself? none of these carebear minimaps or interfaces doing 80% of the thinking for you with 5000 add-ons or little descriptions saying (this boss is uber hard). It finally brings some merit back to gaming, which has been sorely lacking....and sense of discovery for open world games.

I agree parts of the UI absolutely suck , little nuiances like, having key mapping to bring up inventory / equipment / etc... instead have press Esc > then select inventory / equip/ etc... (hate using mouse when dont have to).

 

[scavengerspc]

*SIGH*
I have heard enough. I'm going to get it.