When it comes to loyal fanbases, few are more steadfast than FromSoftware's community. The Dark Souls fandom has been growing since Demon's Souls was released on the PS3, and the Dark Souls trilogy has received an enormous amount of acclaim. People have been talking about a Bloodborne remaster nonstop for the past year, and the hype for Elden Ring is so overwhelming that it could win the award for the most anticipated game at The Game Awards for the second year in a row. Mods and fan projects have been coming out all the while, ranging from art books with fan-made lore to a PS1 'demake' of the first section of Bloodborne. There are many active video game fanbases out there, but FromSoftware fans stand out.
Thanks to this, Elden Ring is all but guaranteed to have great sales when it comes out. The word of mouth from the closed beta is already very positive, and the fandom is eagerly awaiting the February launch date. The community will receive the game with open arms, even if there's a glitch that renders it unplayable online for the first week. The hype is just that strong, and it's hard for the rest of the industry not to take notice. The fandom will also continue to support the game after launch, regardless of whether FromSoftware finishes its patching process and elects not to release any DLC. One of Elden Ring’s greatest assets may be its preexisting fanbase, which will propel the game to ever greater heights.
How The Fanbase Set Elden Ring Up For Success
Elden Ring’s fans have been waiting for the game for a couple of years now, with varying degrees of patience. The excitement for the game is at a fever pitch, something beyond what any FromSoftware game has experienced until now. It feels like the community is as ready as it could be for this game, starving for a FromSoftware-developed Souls-like. Dark Souls 3 kept the community going for a long time, but Sekiro did not inspire the same fervor due to its different format. It's only natural that the community would get excited for Elden Ring, and that excitement can be quite infectious when it's sustained for such a long time.
The FromSoftware community is uniquely equipped to stoke the fires of hype. Playing through Dark Souls games repeatedly has become a tradition in the community, with some Dark Souls 1 or Bloodborne players able to run through their favored games in an afternoon. The Dark Souls series encourages players to find their fun, whether that's the satisfaction of having beaten a boss for the first time, having found a secret item, or mastering the terrain and enemies to such a degree that experimental builds, multiplayer, or even transformative mods become the focus. Mods are indeed coming out, some turning various games into completely new Souls-like experiences, and other fan projects are keeping the various facets of the community active. With footage and impressions of the Elden Ring closed beta being so positive, there's no way the fans won't carry Elden Ring to blockbuster sales on the back of their hype.
Elden Ring’s Community Will Make Its Launch Go Smoothly
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Those guaranteed sales will ensure that Elden Ring’s multiplayer community will be healthy upon launch, regardless of how the new multiplayer systems are implemented. Communities will form, builds will be devised, and patches will probably come later as FromSoftware attempts to impose some form of competitive balance over Elden Ring's massive customization suite. Elden Ring will be the talk of the internet once it comes out, and many people will be sharing experiences on social media and video platforms. It's going to be hard to miss Elden Ring once it comes out in February 2022.
The community will also be united in its efforts to push through and uncover The Lands Between. Players will scour Elden Ring high and low to find whatever secrets may lie therein. There's a good chance that FromSoftware will include some rather obtuse questlines that players will collectively call, and the beta has already indicated that items and enemies are going to be spread everywhere in Elden Ring's world. Guides will be written by both publications and fans, and the amount of footage Elden Ring will produce in its first week alone is sure to be staggering. Elden Ring may not have an easy mode, but there will surely be help available if one asks.
Fans Will Keep Supporting Elden Ring For a Long Time
All of that will just be around launch, and if Elden Ring is as good as it looks, then there is a lot more fan interaction ahead of it. Players will continue to play and replay Elden Ring, whether it be in casual play, competitive multiplayer, or speedrunning. Videos, music, art, stories, and all manner of other things will be made to celebrate the game and all it puts forth. Mods are also sure to come out on PC, starting with simple model swaps like exchanging Torrent for a wide variety of other steeds. Eventually, they will grow in scope to include randomizers and new content entirely.
FromSoftware is lucky to have the fandom that it does, as it represents the best parts of a large community focused on a particular brand or series. Lots of new ideas and works are made to expand on or branch off of things in the beloved source material, and all of these gradually make their way to different people around the internet. FromSoftware wouldn't be where it is without the support of fans around the world over the past decade, and while some would like to see FromSoftware start to experiment again and return to its weirder days, plenty of fans are still content with the formula the developer has chosen to refine. Elden Ring will feel like a huge party at launch, and no FromSoftware fan would miss it for the world.
Elden Ring releases on February 25, 2022, on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
