Elden Ring expansion sees player numbers soar, but Steam user reviews drop to mixed

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree finally dropped last week after a lengthy waiting period for fans. The expansion has already received a ton of praise from critics, in part due to its sheer scope, and in part due to the inventive new bosses. Elden Ring soared in player numbers over the weekend, surpassing 750,000 concurrent players. However, not everyone is happy with the new content judging by the Steam reviews. 

The Elden Ring expansion saw hundreds of thousands of gamers jumping back in to the game on Steam. Over the launch weekend, the game hit a new 24-hour peak of 765,984 players a little lower than the game's all-time high of 950,000 concurrent players during the game's original launch in 2022.

While many are playing the game, and the expansion went on to become one of the highest-rated games of the year based on critic reviews, the game's Steam reviews have dropped to Mixed. Based on just over 34,000 user reviews, players are calling out the DLC as being ‘unfairly difficult', which is somewhat funny to see, given that From Software has built its reputation on creating difficult games that you can't just breeze in one sitting.

One common point of pushback I've seen to these negative reviews is that players aren't utilising the tools available to them properly. Some of these players are trying to get through the game without using advantageous items like Scadutree fragments, which is a new upgrade material that will enhance your offensive and defensive stats. Others are also avoiding using summons to help out in boss fights. The game might be difficult, but we can't exactly say that From Software hasn't provided tools and mechanics for players to make things easier on themselves.

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KitGuru Says: What do you think of the new Elden Ring DLC? Is it too difficult? 

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