Dark Souls PC remains offline as From Software investigates major security flaw

Two weeks ago, Bandai Namco and From Software were forced to take the multiplayer servers for the Dark Souls series offline for the PC platform. The lack of online functionality is a temporary measure, as a bug that could grant an attacker Remote Code Execution (RCE) privileges was discovered. Unfortunately, the team has not yet been able to fix the security flaw, so the games will remain offline for the foreseeable future. 

In Dark Souls Remastered, Dark Souls 2 and Dark Souls 3, players can enable online functionality to invade other player's games and also be invaded. Unfortunately, a flaw with this system can grant Remote Code Execution privileges, enabling a hacker to worm their way into your PC by exploiting the game's code. With RCE, the attacker could obtain full control of a system without the owner's knowledge, making this a very serious issue.

A similar multiplayer system is also in Elden Ring and it was believed that the flaw could also be present in the upcoming game. With that in mind, From Software has prioritised testing and ensuring safeguards are in place for Elden Ring to avoid having to delay the game, or temporarily remove online features from the PC version. Due to this, From Software has not been able to fix multiplayer in Dark Souls just yet, and as a result, those games will remain offline on PC until after the release of Elden Ring.

“We want to thank the entire Dark Souls community and the players who have reached out to us directly to voice their concerns and offer solutions”, From Software said in a statement. “We have extended the investigation to Elden Ring – our upcoming title launching on February 25th – and have made sure the necessary security measures are in place for this title on all target platforms”.

“Due to the time required to set up proper testing environments, online services for the Dark Souls series on PC will not resume until after the release of Elden Ring. We will continue to do everything we can to bring back these services as soon as possible”.

From Software has promised to provide another update as soon as it has a date in mind for bringing Dark Souls multiplayer back online for PC.

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KitGuru Says: This security flaw was serious and fortunately, From Software has been treating it that way. Hopefully we'll have another update on the status of Dark Souls multiplayer before the end of the month, or possibly in early March. 

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