Elden Ring Sells 30 Million Units, and It's Still Not Done Yet

Every time I'm the first to see an article with no comments I always take a few seconds to try and figure out why they closed the comments on this one. 😂

I still need to finish up Shadow of the Erdtree despite being disappointed with its exploration.

Honestly, if it runs at a solid 1080p/30 undocked, I'll play it again on Switch 2. I never played the expansion anyway, and going through it portably would probably be unique enough to justify a second playthrough.

For anyone that ends up having waited 3 years to spend their many, many pounds to play it on a brand new (last gen 😜) Switch 2. All I'll say is, you could have spent less of those many, many pounds on a PS5, played Elden Ring and some other games, then sold the PS5 and Elden Ring to fund buying a Switch 2 to play your Switch 2 exclusives in the future when they come out.

For me, third party on Switch should only really kick in once a big bunch of millions of people already own the console and it is established. But it won't, because people are weird and will only just realise they now want to play a game that they could have easily already played years ago on many other available to devices, but must now get it on the Switch 2 that they will have to buy... just because 😅

Hogwarts releasing to Switch one and their massive user base = Monumental. Elden Ring releasing on Switch 2 - should not make a lick of difference... but it will. It really will.

And Elden Ring and Cyberpunk will suddenly have this new wave of players who could have already played it... but only after this completely seperate new console (that is equally or even more expensive) that they don't yet own releases and they have bought it. Which should be totally different to a game releasing on something you already own getting a new wave of interest ala Hogwarts to Switch, Xbox games to the current gen PS etc.

It's psychologically very interesting to me how these new ports of games you can currently play on available consoles and PC's anyway do on a brand new bit of hardware as these kind of weird new launch titles, against those being released to a massive user base that simply didn't have access to them until the devs went back to support the console they already owned.

It's fascinating. (Kind of 😂) and logic says it should be a bit of a disaster launching a console with games that people have been able to play for 3 or more years. But it won't be 😅

@CallMeDuraSouka This game offers a lot of ways to progress through the game and strengthen your build, but the bosses are pretty tough and especially the later ones.

@Ravix I don't know. The last time Nintendo had a huge hit of a console on their hands, the follow up was a massive flop that forced them to go to a new console really quickly. In that case the reason was the mainly non-gamer crowd that made the Wii so successful weren't the type of customer to buy the next console. The question now is that will tens of millions of parents buy their kids a console that looks the same as the last one, with the main launch game (MK) looking very similar to the last one to non-gamer parent eyes.

And when each new game is so expensive. I think kids are more likely to want the new Switch than non-gamers were to want a Wii U, but it's all down to if the legions of parents will be happy to spend £500 plus on something they'll see as "but we already have a Switch at home". And as you say, even the gamer parents will realise most of the stuff on offer is available elsewhere for less, and often running and looking better. It really could go either way, but I don't think it's a foregone conclusion (for either failure or success).

I would much rather see a DS3 Switch 2 port personally!

@Ravix People love portable play. I'm tempted to double dip with Elden Ring just for the fact i can play it portable. Also many people only own a Switch and may not want to spend £500 on a PS5 for one or two games. For instance my GF games and games a lot but only on her Switch, she prefers handheld play so consoles like the PS5 and Xbox don't interest her. In fact she's tempted to get Cyberpunk for the Switch 2 providing its a good port as she's never played it before.

@Matroska yeah, it is genuinely interesting. In a very specific and nerdy way, I suppose 😅

It has a lot of red flags that say it shouldn't sell nearly as well, maybe not even a quarter as well, and that the games that can already be played elsewhere aren't a draw to the casual gamer. But then Apple and Samsung exist and manage to get people to buy the same new social media scroller, I mean, phone, every year, so 🤷‍♂️

At the moment it feels like the target audience is people that want a handheld that is not also a PC, but are still hardcore gamers. And absolute Nintendo diehards which is a given.

I just don't want to be super negative and say it's a pretty pointless console that will only have any value about 4 years in when there are enough genuinely impressive Nintendo IP's that are only available on the new hardware 😅 so I'm trying to spin it kind of positively as well, kind of 😜

@DennisReynolds yeah, I'm sure a lot of people will buy it and not regret spending £600/700 for the Switch 2 and a couple of games. But a lot of people might 😅 unless they realise beforehand that their Switch won't in fact melt on Switch 2 release day so put off buying a 2 for now as their current handheld is suffice for Animal Crossing etc etc.

I don't have a horse in the race, either way. I'm just interested to see how it goes, what games do well, and the reasons people end up choosing to play Cyberpunk and Elden Ring on a Nintendo. Or the reasons people choose to not buy it day one. All that stuff is just weirdly fascinating for some reason 😅

It's all in good sport though, people are crazy enough to buy them, I'm probably crazy enough to buy one if they trick me into another Legend of Zelda game. But it feels like a much more enthusiast focused product this time, which isn't usually their M.O, because of the IP's and style of games they make.

@Ravix It's really odd when you say it like that but really true too. There are games I could play on PC tonight that I end up wish listing on the PS5 with 'I can't wait to play this!' I technically don't have to wait and I could play them now but you get locked into that pattern. Cyberpunk is already 5yrs old now, and Elden Ring 3yrs. It's kind of crazy to even expect to see either games released as 'new' on any platform let alone a new system. I don't doubt Nintendo can do it, I just have concerns about their pricing. If the price of a game on one console is twice as much as the same game on another console then I'd find it hard to justify a buy. I'm really curious to see how the Switch 2 does, especially with those older games.

There was so much hype for Elden Ring's original release, now in 2025 it's going to happen again but for Nintendo, weird times we live in. And I'm saying that as I play a 19yr game that is currently technically new.

@DennisReynolds As a genuine, good faith question, what do you mean by portable? And who else do you know what plays games outside? Because with all honesty, as a Switch owner myself, I've never seen anyone in public with a Switch or any handheld. For one, the screen isn't bright enough to see outside. But even past that, if people are out and about, they're doing something - they're with friends or whatever. I don't see this "oh but it's handheld" thing in real life. As a genuine question, do people you know actually, say, go to the park and play on the Switch?

@Ravix To be fair, people don't pay £1000 or so for the new phone each year, they just adjust their subscription and get the latest model. They stick at about 40-50 each month while keeping the newest phone. With the Switch 2, will parents pay £450 to 500 to get something that seems to be the same thing they already paid for? Time will tell, but it's genuinely up in the air as far as I can see.

Deserves all of the success, the game is fantastic.

@Matroska Portable as in handheld play. Sometimes at night i just like laying in bed with some background TV noise on while i play my Switch or i play it when my GF watches her stuff, its how i've been playing Xenoblade X lately. My GF will usually play her Switch while i'm on the PS5 or watching something she has no interest in. We both have the normal Switch but both of us almost never play them Docked.

Excellent news. It is a beautiful game from the very best developers the industry has to offer. Deserves all the praise it gets.

I also consider it the most accessible 'souls' game from Fromsoftware, but of course, this is my subjective opinion. I believe this could have help it achieve this milestone.

Gee I wonder what motivated them to try and translate the formula into live service garbage....

Oh Fromsoft, have you learned nothing from the last 5 years.

@DennisReynolds Well I do get that. The play in bed, or even if you're feeling a bit risky you can play in the bath, kind of thing. I get that. I've just never seen anyone play outside with any handheld apart from one guy with a 3DS on the train (which I forgot about until this post). But yeah, some games are so much better in bed, like the Ace Attorney series. Like reading a good book in bed.

I have been gaming since 1989. And this game is by far my best game I have ever played. I have beated both the base and the DLC even beating pre-nerf Radhan in under 10 hours. Finishing bad bosses like Radhan and Malenia brought pure adrenaline fed entertainment.

FromSoft proved that we don't need realistic graphics in games. What is more important is beautiful artwork and fun gameplay.

I’ve platinum’ed it once. I probably would’ve bought the DLC already if there were trophies. It would’ve been pretty simple just to put trophies in for defeating the new bosses. I get other Dark Souls games didn’t have them but Bloodborne did (give us a PS5 remaster/remake). I’ll get to both the DLC & PS4 platinum run for Elden Ring eventually.

But honestly? I’d rather double platinum Lies of P first. It may not be as great of a game but it’s got that Bloodborne vibe without being a 100% clone

Elden Ring is amazing though and deserves its flowers. No doubt about it! It’d be hard to just jump right back into the DLC after not playing it for years though

@KundaliniRising333 What live service game? They have a MP focused ER game coming but its not a live service game.

@DennisReynolds I guess technically you are right. I pretty much lump all multi-player games into that camp Now. So I admit that's a bit reductive on my part. However the days of true multi-player offerings in the vein of like Socom are dead. they are now all created with the intent to be monetized as indefinitely as possible. If you think Fromsoft isn't hoping to do the same with nightreign if it takes, off, sadly I think you Wil be disappointed. However I don't think this one will have long legs in terms of a large player base.

It's not what we want from FS. Sony is learning the same hard lessons chasing the same at the expense of their premier single player studios.