Millions of players around the world are worked up for the eventual release of Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree. The excitement for the long-anticipated extension is growing every day as we come close to its release, and it is not going to stop soon.
Amongst all the chaos, it seems like the developers of Elden Ring might have moved on to the final stages of development before they finally release the DLC, as hinted by the recent updates on the game’s SteamDB page.
In the past few hours, there has been a rapid succession of changes to Elden Ring’s steam backend. This usually means that the developers responsible for the game are adding new elements to the game, and will shortly release it for the players to experience themselves.
What Does Elden Ring’s Page On SteamDB Indicate?
To begin with, for those who do not know, SteamDB is a website that shows a record of information that is not publicly available for everyone to see on the game’s storefront page. This includes updates to the game, downloadable content, and patches that the developers plan to introduce to the game files but not to the public yet.
Last month, we observed a new, unnamed file appear in the Downloadable Content section of Elden Ring’s backend page after 15 long months. This event was followed by rapid additions of depot and packages in the last few hours today. Some of these are also specifically labeled with terms such as debug, release, and development, giving fans hope the release of the DLC is now closer than ever.
To speak in layman’s terms, these changes likely indicate the fact that the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is moving towards its testing and quality assurance stage. This is where the content is checked for any bugs and is checked thoroughly to ensure there are no issues when it is finally released.
What Do We Know About Elden Ring‘s Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC Already?
While FromSoftware did not have the courtesy to disclose much about the extension at all, the majority of what the fans know comes from the announcement of the DLC last year, as well as occasional leaks and hints now and then.
The most critical piece of clue that we have till now is the key art which was released alongside the announcement. The key art indicates what seems to be the character of Miquella riding a steed in a wheat field. The character also seems to be looking towards the burned-down Erdtree, most likely caused by the events of Elden Ring.
The key art combined with hints such as an updated Elden Ring playlist on YouTube has allowed the fans to come up with a speculated timeline for when the DLC will finally be released. It is predicted that Shadow of the Erdtree will come out in late February, just after Elden Ring’s second-anniversary celebration on 25th February.
Elden Ring is available to purchase on Steam.
