Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree: Release Date Speculation, Content & More

After a tonne of speculation and rumors about the new DLC, FromSoftware has officially announced the first Elden Ring expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree. If you are wondering when Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree will get released (speculation) and what type of content you can expect to see, then we've got you covered.

This consistently updated article provides Elden Ring fans with the latest information on Shadow of the Erdtree, so let's get started.

Update on 5 January 2024: We've updated this article to reflect the latest information on the 'Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree' expansion.

Will we see Shadow of the Erdtree Elden Ring expansion at The Game Awards 2023? Probably not?

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Announcement

While we expected an Elden Ring DLC announcement at the game's one-year anniversary event, nothing happened. Then, on 28 February 2023, just days after the live event, FromSoftware simply took to Twitter to announce the first Elden Ring expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree. The announcement reads:

Rise, Tarnished, and let us walk a new path together. An upcoming expansion for #ELDENRING Shadow of the Erdtree, is currently in development. We hope you look forward to new adventures in the Lands Between.

No, this is not a drill, Tarnished! Check out the official announcement below.

But when will the Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree expansion be released, and what type of content can we expect to see? That's what the next sections of this article are all about.

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Release Date Speculation

The Colosseum free PvP update (1.08) was released on 7 December 2022. However, pinpointing a release date window for an Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree expansion is quite difficult to pinpoint.

At the time of writing, no official release date has been revealed, so take the information here as a guesstimate and speculation. We will update this section once an official release date or window has been revealed.

Judging by past SoulsBorne titles, we know that FromSoftware generally takes less than one year to produce an expansion for their titles, except for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

If we assume work on the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion started after the release of Elden Ring's Colusseum DLC on 7 December 2022 and going by some historical data on FromSoftware titles, we expect the game's first expansion to release before in the 2nd half of 2023. However, there's no official word on the possible expansion at the time of writing.

Will Shadow of the Erdtree be a Paid Elden Ring Expansion?

At the time of writing, nothing has been confirmed in terms of the price of the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. However, judging by From Software's history with the Dark Souls franchise and its expansions, we speculate that it will not be free.

Sure, the Colosseum update was free, but keep in mind the developers called this a "DLC/Update" and not an "expansion." We will update you as soon as official information on the pricing for Elden Ring's first expansion becomes available.

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Expansion Content

At the time of writing, there is no official word on the content in the Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. As it has specifically been called an expansion during the announcement, we do expect new Elden Ring areas to explore, bosses to slay, weapons, items, and quests.

So there you have everything we know so far about the Elden Ring expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, from release date and content speculation to the official announcement and first details. We will endeavor to update this article as soon as more information becomes available, so stay tuned!