February 2022 was already packed full of big game releases. Now FromSoftware has added another to the list, delaying Elden Ring a month from its original January 21, 2022 release date. In the meantime, the game will get a player demo next month as grainy in-development footage continues to leak online.
Elden Ring, the open-world successor to the Dark Souls series, will now come out on February 25, 2022 to give FromSoftware more time to work on it. “[T]he depth & strategic freedom of the game exceeded initial expectations,” the studio announced on Twitter today. In November, it will host a Closed Network Test showing select players the “opening hours” of the full game.
After being announced at E3 2019, Elden Ring went quiet for a while, making fans desperate for more info as some worried that the game’s development may have hit a brick wall. Lots of leaked footage and rumored delays later, FromSoftware announced a January 2022 release date at this year’s Summer Game Fest.
Unlike previous FromSoftware games, Elden Ring will take place in an expansive world with dungeons peppered throughout. The game will even have an overworld map complete with waypoints. This larger scope, along with the game’s slowburn marketing rollout, have amped up fan expectations, and also worried some about what the end product will be.
Over the weekend, ugly footage of the game leaked online again. While fans went through it with a fine-toothed comb, identifying locations and gameplay nuances, the apparent leaker was also quick to try and assuage concerns about the graphical quality, claiming it was from an Xbox One version of the game, and had been compressed due to the capture methods.
Fortunately, some players won’t have to wait much longer to finally get a taste of the game for themselves. The Closed Network Test is planned for November 12 through 14 in the Americas on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Those who want a chance to get into the test can register at the game’s website.