After almost two months of release, FromSoftware’s latest game Elden Ring has already become the company’s fastest-selling title. Within its first three weeks, the game had already sold 12 million copies, garnered millions of views on Twitch, and became Steam’s third most active game.
While fans are celebrating the game’s reception, Elden Ring’s unprecedented success is puzzling. For a game company primarily focused on their own niche genre of games (often referred to as “Soulsborne”), it’s impressive how FromSoftware has managed to break into the wider gaming audience.
Many people who have never touched the company’s other games like Dark Souls, or Sekiro, are now enthusiastic fans of Elden Ring. Although the game’s difficulty and unorthodox design have been criticized for alienating new players, the majority of people who’ve tried the game don’t seem to mind. So what has Elden Ring done that’s made it so successful?
One of the primary reasons for Elden Ring’s success is the importance of interacting with the game’s community. While the game is perfectly beatable without any outside help, many of the game’s secret items and locations are found by reading player-generated messages in the game or asking other players for help online.
If certain bosses prove to be too difficult, players can opt into multiplayer or share tips and strategies with each other. Elden Ring doesn’t bog down the player with constant tutorials and quest markers. It instead forces players to work with others to overcome the game’s challenges.
This sense of cooperation also affects how players understand and experience the game’s vague story. Despite the involvement of Game of Thrones author G.R.R. Martin, Elden Ring follows suit with FromSoftware’s other games in telling its story cryptically. Those wanting to understand the plot often discuss it online or watch YouTube videos discussing the game’s story.
While some criticism was leveled at the game for not including a more accessible “easy mode”, that hasn’t stopped players from making use of all the game’s mechanics to progress. While Elden Ring, has kept its signature difficulty enough to prove a challenge to FromSoftware veterans, the game also has tools and mechanics that make the challenge less daunting for newcomers. Players can overlevel their character to make them stronger, find better weapons and armor, or just move on to a less-difficult area of the game.
Elden Ring’s approach to an open world is also a shining example of non-intrusive game design. Elden Ring doesn’t have markers or notifications telling the player where to go or how to explore the world. Instead, it gives away locations through dialogue and lets player curiosity drive exploration.
Although these game design choices have been praised, they’re undoubtedly unorthodox in the modern games industry. Besides a few outliers, most open world games take the intrusive route with features such as minimaps and quest markers.
While Elden Ring’s game design choices in terms of UI (user interface), quests, and multiplayer appeals to a niche market, the game’s rapid sales may push other developers to adopt a similar style. The industry is in need of something fresh and innovative, and Elden Ring has delivered just that.