An executive from Arrowhead Game Studios, the developer behind Helldivers 2, has joined the ongoing discussion regarding the difficulty of Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. The Elden Ring DLC, which added a new region, quests, gear, and so much more, was released on June 21.

Following the launch of Elden Ring's highly anticipated sole expansion, many players - beginners and veterans alike - took to the internet to claim that the DLC was too hard. A lot of the complaints revolved around Shadow of the Erdtree's new bosses, who some even claimed were overtuned. Johan Pilestedt, the CCO of Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios, has offered his two cents on FromSoftware's approach to difficulty in the expansion for Elden Ring.

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In a recent Twitter post, Pilestedt, who is the creative director of Helldivers 2, revealed that he agreed with streamer Rurikhan's sentiment that FromSoftware intentionally designed the bosses of their games to be hard so players would feel challenged. The Arrowhead Game Studios executive explained that good game design evoked emotion more than anything. Responding to a reply that pointed out that such a philosophy would result in a game catering to a select audience, Pilestedt said, "a game for everyone is a game for no one," adding that developers should always stick with their intended crowds.

Helldivers 2 Developer's Thoughts on Elden Ring DLC Difficulty

Prior to the release of the expansion, Elden Ring director and FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki had already warned gamers via an interview that Shadow of the Erdtree would be challenging even for veterans. Certain bosses in the DLC, according to Miyazaki, were balanced around the assumption that players would have already progressed far into the base game. FromSoftware also considered what aspects players found fun and what they determined were stressful in the base game's boss encounters, the Elden Ring director said.

In Shadow of the Edtree, FromSoftware introduced a mechanic called Scadutree Blessing that increased player damage and decreased damage received when adventuring through the expansion's aptly named Land of Shadow region. Despite this system being explained to players upon accessing Shadow of the Erdtree, it seems many either forgot or ignored it, as Elden Ring publisher Bandai Namco had to remind players to level up their Scadutree Blessing amid complaints regarding the DLC’s difficulty.

While Shadow of the Erdtree has become the highest-rated video game DLC on review aggregate site OpenCritic, beating The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's critically acclaimed Blood and Wine from 2016, the Elden Ring expansion's reception on Steam has been mixed. Negative reviews for the DLC pointed out Shadow of the Erdtree's difficulty, as well as the technical issues it introduced.