The Lands Between will get even more massive.
Shadow of the Erdtree is shaking up to be an insane follow-up for Elden Ring, but just how big is the DLC to require a $40 price tag? FromSoftware’s DLC has historically been some of the best content it's ever made, from the original Dark Souls to Bloodborne.
With so much to live up to, more than two years of development, and a very steep asking price, just how big will the Elden Ring DLC be?
Trailer hints that the Elden Ring DLC will be big
The biggest hint for how big the Elden Ring DLC will be is the trailer. Released on Feb. 21, the trailer shows off multiple indoor and outdoor areas along with a small handful of boss fights.
We count the following amount of confirmed content in the trailer.
- Prairie area
- Mountain area
- Swamp area
- Forest area
- Chapel or academy area
- Castle area
- Jar-themed area
- New underground area
- Coliseum
- Lava dungeon or hero’s grave
- Dancing lion boss
- Giant burning humanoid tree boss
- Fanged hippo boss
- A new type of Tree Sentinel boss
- Fat boomerang skeleton on horseback boss
- Messmer the Impaler boss fight
The trailer also shows dozens of new weapons and spells. However, that is likely only a slice of the total content. The seven areas, which include four distinct outdoor zones and an underground chamber, could be all of the major regions on the map. As for the bosses, expect way more than the six shown in the trailer. The gameplay reveal didn’t appear to showcase more than a single smaller dungeon, but the expansion will likely include over a dozen based on the amount in the base game.
It’s also important to consider the development timeline. Some concepts added in Shadow of the Erdtree, such as the mysterious Messmer, were already in the pipeline at the time of the game’s release. Still, FromSoftware has spent more than two years creating the first big Elden Ring expansion, which, combined with the $40 price tag, indicates a very healthy amount of content.
How many hours will it take to play Shadow of the Erdtree?
Based on how FromSoftware shows content in the trailer and its lengthy development, we predict that the Elden Ring DLC will be big enough to contain the following amount of content.
- 5 major regions
- 20 smaller dungeons
- 3 legacy dungeons
- 30 total boss fights
In terms of hours, we expect Shadow of the Erdtree to take around 40 to 50 hours for a casual first-time playthrough. Completionist runs could take upward of 100 hours. The only way to know for sure is to dig into the DLC when it releases on June 21.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest updates on all things Elden Ring.