FromSoftware’s Souls games have a well-earned reputation for punishing difficulty and obscure mechanics, with many silently filing them away as reserved for only the most hardcore players. Elden Ring has demolished that perception, having broken through to true mainstream acceptance after shifting an incredible 13.4 million copies.
The true number is likely to be even higher, as this figure comes from publisher Bandai-Namco’s latest earnings release, which only counts sales up until March 31. To put it into perspective of how big an achievement this is, Bandai-Namco had projected total sales of just 4 million copies.
These numbers also mean that Elden Ring has eclipsed the entire Dark Souls trilogy, which in total shifted less than 10 million units over the last decade. It’s also beaten many other games considered much more likely for mainstream success, including the much more player-friendly Horizon: Forbidden West.
This success guarantees that there will be more to come from genius director Hidetaka Miyazaki. The next thing we’ll see is Elden Ring DLC (likely based around those mysteriously inaccessible arenas dotted across the map).
Then, a few years down the line, we’ll start to hear more about his next full project. We’re hoping for a Bloodborne sequel, but at this point if Miyazaki announced a remake of Barbie’s Horse Adventure, we’d buy it sight unseen.
It’s also likely we’ll see Souls DNA popping up in other games as rival developers take note. So, if you like your games hard but incredibly satisfying, this console generation could be something very special.