Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree is an expansion pack released in 2024 for the 2022 action role-playing game Elden Ring. FromSoftware developed it, with Bandai Namco Entertainment handling publication across PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The expansion brings a fresh setting, additional gameplay features, and develops narrative threads left unresolved in the original game. Players follow the demigod Miquella into the Land of Shadow, seeking the truth behind his disappearance. The expansion keeps the open-world structure and combat systems of the base Elden Ring, but adds new items, equipment, and magic varieties. Director Hidetaka Miyazaki called it the largest expansion FromSoftware had ever made, aiming to recreate the base game’s feeling of discovery. Critics praised it for its level design, combat additions, new enemies, and exploration, often comparing it favorably to the original. Its heavy difficulty received mixed reactions. By July 2025, it had sold ten million units. A controversy arose over its eligibility for a Game of the Year nomination at The Game Awards 2024. Shadow of the Erdtree preserves Elden Ring’s third-person action role-playing mechanics, including exploration, character-building, combat, summoning, and boss encounters. It adds a new region called the Realm of Shadow, which players access after defeating Starscourge Radahn and Mohg, Lord of Blood in the base game. New weapons, armor, spells, enemies, dungeons, and bosses appear. A separate power system applies only within the Realm of Shadow: Scadutree Fragments boost attack and defense there, while Revered Spirit Ashes strengthen spirit summons and the spectral steed Torrent. Reviewers noted this system encouraged exploring the new region instead of relying solely on character level from the base game. The Land of Shadow is an interconnected world featuring open fields, legacy dungeons, smaller caves, forts, ruins, and optional boss fights. GameSpot described the expansion as large enough to feel like a separate game, while Game Informer emphasized that its systems and regions expanded the main campaign rather than acting as a small side area. The Land of Shadow is separated from the Lands Between and hidden by the Erdtree.