If you’ve been enjoying Elden Ring, we have some good news: There’s more where that came from. In its first three weeks on the market, Elden Ring has sold an eye-watering 12 million copies. To put that in context, the whole Dark Souls series took nine years to sell 27 million copies. In other words, Elden Ring is a big hit. The game’s publisher now plans to take this momentum and run with it by expanding Elden Ring into a comprehensive multimedia franchise.
Information comes from a Bandai Namco press e-mail. In it, the company discusses Elden Ring’s sales figures, some brief background on the game director, Hidetaka Miyazaki, and his co-conspirator, fantasy author George R.R. Martin, and what’s next for the IP.
“Much effort was placed into creating Elden Ring in order to exceed the expectations of our fans worldwide,” said Yasuo Miyakawa, president and CEO of Bandai Namco. “With a similar goal, we will continue our efforts in expanding the brand beyond the game itself and into everyone’s daily life. We will continue to create enjoyment and fulfillment through entertainment so that we can come closer and connect to our fans around the world.”
It's a subtle point, but the message seems clear enough: Bandai Namco doesn’t envision Elden Ring as a single standalone game. Instead, From’s latest adventure will become a franchise, and some sort of non-gaming tie-in seems like a safe bet.
How Elden Ring could expand “beyond the game itself and into everyone’s daily life” is anyone’s guess. But if we look at how Bandai Namco has managed the Dark Souls brand, we can see a few possibilities. Since the series debuted, Dark Souls has spun off into a comic book series, a board game, a series of collectables and, of course, two well-received sequels.
An Elden Ring sequel, or at least some DLC, seems like a safe bet, at least in a few years. Until then, comic books and collectables seem like a fair bet. It’s also worth remembering that George R.R. Martin spent much of his career as a TV writer, and has overseen dark fantasy TV shows before. Some kind of small-screen tie-in for Elden Ring under his supervision would not be the most ridiculous idea.
In any case, Elden Ring fans can rest assured: the standalone game will officially become a franchise. Let’s just hope that subsequent projects are as good as the first.
