Highlights

  • Elden Ring's future is bright with the announcement of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC and FromSoftware's full ownership of the IP.
  • FromSoftware's CEO prefers new creative endeavors over sequels, potentially impacting the future of Elden Ring media.
  • Owning Elden Ring gives FromSoftware more control and flexibility to explore multimedia projects without external pressure.

While the distant outlook for Elden Ring is unclear, its immediate future looks bright. FromSoftware’s modern RPG classic has finally announced the date of its Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, and FromSoftware also recently purchased full ownership of the Elden Ring IP from international publisher Bandai Namco. This is an unusual move for FromSoftware, but if it could only secure one franchise, Elden Ring is the obvious choice. As the most lucrative game in FromSoftware’s library, giving its creators more control over Elden Ring media is a sensible plan.

That is, assuming there will be any more Elden Ring media. FromSoftware CEO Hidetaka Miyazaki, who also directed Elden Ring, has made his preference for pursuing new creative endeavors over sequels clear, and that has been evident in FromSoftware’s varied output. Only Dark Souls has received consistent sequels during the past decade, with Armored Core having just returned from its decade-long hiatus, and four other new IPs being created in the meantime: Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Deracine, and Elden Ring. The mixed publishers behind those games may explain why FromSoftware decided to acquire Elden Ring, and why the fantasy franchise is still better off in its hands than anyone else’s.

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FromSoftware Often Can't Revisit Its Universes When Others Are Involved

Despite how much fans want to see sequels to FromSoftware’s games, that is not always FromSoftware’s choice to make. The company has always been a relatively small game developer, even after gaining enough staff to pursue multiple concurrent projects. Plenty of publishers have done business with FromSoftware over the years, whether to publish games outside of Japan or to fund them in the first place, often resulting in joint ownership deals. Bandai Namco's stake in publishing Dark Souls allegedly influenced it to build a franchise, but even without Bandai's presence, Elden Ring may still have better chances of continuing under FromSoftware alone.

Bloodborne and Sekiro’s Ownership Tells Cautionary Tales

The best evidence of this lies in FromSoftware’s other recent IPs. Bloodborne, like Dark Souls’ predecessor Demon's Souls, is a PlayStation exclusive published by Sony. Judging by the PS5-exclusive Demon's Souls remake from Bluepoint Games, it can be assumed that Sony has dominant control over both IPs. Fans have been asking for a remaster for years, but unless rumors of a Bloodborne remake or a movie hold water, there's no sign of anything coming. Even fewer people are holding their breath for Activision to do anything more with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Combining how sparse Sekiro’s post-launch updates were with Activision's acquisition by Microsoft, it doesn't look like it has much of a future.

There's More FromSoftware Can Do With Elden Ring

FromSoftware owning Elden Ring could remove some external pressure to make an Elden Ring sequel, but it also removes external barriers to FromSoftware doing more with the franchise. Teases of Elden Ring multimedia projects have existed for a while now, and even if those came from Bandai Namco’s side, FromSoftware could still license out the IP if it deems that worthwhile. It would be strange to purchase full ownership of a valuable name like Elden Ring and do nothing with it, so fans shouldn't lose hope for more Elden Ring following Shadow of the Erdtree.

Looking at past FromSoftware series’, Elden Ring does not need to branch into multimedia or direct sequels to become a series itself. FromSoftware designs its games to stand on their own merits, even when they are direct narrative sequels like:

  • The original King’s Field trilogy
  • Different Armored Core generations
  • Otogi 1 and 2
  • Lost Kingdoms 1 and 2

Akin to King's Field 4 or the Shadow Tower and Shadow Tower: Abyss duo, another Elden Ring game could be thematically related to its predecessor instead of narratively. Regardless of what FromSoftware decides, the developer shouldn't need any other publishers' permission to do more with Elden Ring.