It’s always interesting to hear developers talk about their processes, and Hidetaka Miyazaki recently talked about Shadow of the Erdtree. The highly anticipated DLC for Elden Ring was announced over a year ago in February 2023, and since then, fans have patiently waited to experience it.
The DLC is confirmed for release on June 21, and like the base game, it will be available for PS4/5, Xbox One/Xbox Series, and PC via Steam. With it comes a certain amount of expectation from fans, as many are expecting a much tougher challenge, and it has been confirmed by Miyazaki that this is the biggest expansion to date.
Hidetaka Miyazaki Talks About the Development of Shadow of the Erdtree
In a recent interview with Famitsu, the Japanese video game magazine, Miyazaki talked about the development of the award-winning title and, indeed, the upcoming DLC. Some of what he described for fans to expect will no doubt raise excitement levels even further, if that is indeed possible.
Full translation of the Famitsu interview with Miyazaki for Shadow of the Erdtree
byu/theangryfurlong inEldenring
We know that Miyazaki had help from literary giant George R.R. Martin in the writing of this game, and in the interview, he confirmed that Martin hadn’t written anything specific for the DLC.
It became obvious that there were elements in the big picture of Elden Ring that wouldn’t fit into the main title, so we thought it would be good to release these to the world as DLC.
Indeed, his writing was in line with that of the base game, which only goes to show that everything was created at a very early stage.
The director confirmed that talks on the development of the DLC commenced around the time that the development of the main title concluded and went on to talk about what fans will see in the expansion. What may be surprising for fans is that there will be 8, yes, 8, new weapon types added, and it may be that these will be necessary for the level of DLC bosses that players happen upon.
The DLC Wasn’t Just Included in the Base Game
With the sheer scale of the game, many fans were questioning why the upcoming DLC couldn’t have been factored into the base game, rather than being made to wait for it to be released. Developers recognised at the start that there were elements of the game that just couldn’t be included and this led to the creation of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.
Looking at the comments from the Director, it will be more than worth the wait and will no doubt see many players sinking endless hours into it.
Miyazaki did confirm that after the release of the expansion in June, there are no plans for any further DLC after this. However, he stated that this does not mean the end of Elden Ring. So, fans can expect this to be an experience like nothing they have ever seen before, but like other Soulslike games, expect it to be extremely challenging.
What are your thoughts on the latest comments from Hidetaka Miyazaki? Do you think that the Shadow of the Erdtree content could have been included in the base game? Get in touch, leave us a comment, and let us know what you think.
