When it comes to open-world RPGs, Elden Ring is the exception rather than the rule. Fromsoftware’s opus came after over a decade of learning from Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro, which puts the sense of exploration and discovery above all else. To me, this is exactly why the game works. Now, more than three years after launch, a new report shows just how long we’ve been in The Lands Between, and it’s mighty impressive. With Elden Ring Nightreign right around the corner, it doesn’t sound like the original game is going anywhere.
The Elden Ring Nightreign release date can’t come soon enough. Fromsoftware is putting its full focus on a multiplayer spin of the gargantuan open-world game, and it looks truly stunning. Bosses from the studio’s soulslike past are making a return, and there’s even going to be a three-day cycle for each of your runs. You shouldn’t count the original Elden Ring out just yet, however, because a new report from Alinea Analytics shows how much we’ve all played it in the last few years.
According to Alinea data, more than 45% of Elden Ring’s players on Steam have played the game for over 100 hours. Valve’s storefront also accounts for around 15.7 million of the game’s players, making it the game’s biggest platform ahead of Xbox and PlayStation. As for the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, Alinea adds that it’s sold 2.4 million copies on Steam alone.
These players are also incredibly dedicated to Elden Ring, as Alinea provides even more data (via ResetEra) on how much of the game some have completed. 10.2% of the playerbase on Steam has every achievement, while 10.9% have done the same on PlayStation. It doesn’t end there, however, as almost 700,000 players across PlayStation and Steam have played the game for over 500 hours. That number would put a lot of live-service games to shame.
Alinea also compares Elden Ring’s player retention to both Baldur’s Gate 3 and Diablo 4, and it yields some surprising results. While D4 has the highest share of players in the ten-to-50 hours bracket, Elden Ring is leading elsewhere. Of the three games, Elden Ring leads the 100-500 hour bracket of players at 42.6%, likely due to the sheer scope of things to do in the game.
I have a feeling even more of us are going back to Elden Ring soon, though, because Fromsoftware is dropping a new DLC for the game. It’s nowhere nearly as big as Shadow of the Erdtree, but it’ll have more classes, armor, weapons, combat techniques, and cosmetics for Torrent.
If you’re jumping back into The Lands Between ahead of Nightreign, make sure you check out all the best Elden Ring mods and Elden Ring builds to get you started.
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