Highlights

  • The Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree expansion sold over five million copies in its first 3 days.
  • Earlier this month, FromSoftware announced that Elden Ring had sold over 25 million copies.
  • Shadow of the Erdtree is the highest-rated DLC ever made, with an OpenCritic score of 94.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree managed to sell over five million copies within three days of its global release. It didn't take long for FromSoftware's beloved open-world action RPG to exceed sales expectations when the base game was initially released back in 2022, with publisher Bandai Namco reporting that Elden Ring reached over 13 million units sold in the first month after its debut. Now, the highly anticipated Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC expansion is set to repeat history and possibly propel the critically acclaimed title to even greater heights.

Since its announcement in 2023, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has been a topic of interest for the game's community, who have long wondered how FromSoftware might further evolve the iconic Soulslike formula with the addition of the first and only Elden Ring DLC. Interest in the expansion only grew in the weeks leading up to its release, which subsequently pushed Elden Ring's concurrent player count back up to a level of popularity comparable to the weeks following its release.

Elden Ring Players Face Major Bug
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Frustrating Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Bug Prevents Scadutree Fragment Max Level

Players are encountering a new bug that limits progression in Elden Ring's new Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, making the game even harder.

Though expectations for the expansion were high, it doesn't seem like Shadow of the Erdtree will have trouble meeting or exceeding them. Bandai Namco has announced that Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has already proven to be a major success, with the expansion selling over five million units less than a week after launch. The publisher is celebrating the notable sales milestone by thanking the DLC's many players for their continued support of Elden Ring. For context, a previous report from FromSoftware announced that Elden Ring had sold over 25 million units at the time of writing, meaning around one in five Elden Ring players purchased the DLC.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Players Are Having Some Issues

While the DLC has been nothing short of a phenomenal success, it hasn't all been smooth sailing for the developers. Shadow of the Erdtree recently came under fire due to its overwhelming difficulty, with many players claiming the expansion posed an unfair challenge. Furthermore, the PC release of the Elden Ring DLC was hampered by severe technical issues, as a sizable group of Steam reviewers also reported experiencing frame drops and audio issues throughout their playthroughs.

Despite its issues, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree remains one of the most impactful expansions in recent memory, earning praise for the expansive size of its overworld, the depth of its content, and its elevation of FromSoftware's Soulslike gameplay. The glowing reviews for Shadow of the Erdtree cemented its status as the most highly-rated DLC in history, topping other beloved expansions such as Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty and Destiny 2: The Final Shape.