Elden Ring is a pretty massive game. Players that have already reached the end are reporting back playtimes that stretch beyond 100 hours, but this already huge open-world game has just got even bigger thanks to a smattering of new content added in its first major patch.
Elden Ring update v1.03 is now available on all platforms, and is a completely free download. Like with most video game patches, it includes a wide assortment of bug and glitch fixes. Among the lengthy list of improvements are tweaks that prevent players from being able to fall through the map and a much-needed remedy for an issue that caused stat scaling to fail on certain weapons.
While bugs being ironed out is always appreciated, what’s really noteworthy about Elden Ring’s first major patch is that it makes an already content-rich game even bigger. Patch v1.03 doesn’t add any new explorable areas or challenging bosses to slay, but it does add a whole new NPC named Jar-Bairn, to the game, plus expansions existing quests with new phases.
The patch also includes some noteworthy tweaks which make Elden Ring more accessible than ever. For starters, helpful summonable NPCs now appear in more locations. Furthermore, one of the game’s biggest criticisms has been addressed: the lack of a traditional quest log.
This update doesn’t add a full quest tracker, but it offers the ability for players to record the name and location of an NPC onto the in-game map — which should go some way to improving the game’s cumbersome quest tracking. If that's still not enough for you, there is an iPhone app that can help.
Finally, new ambient music has been added to certain sections of the open world. So, if you’re already explored the Lands Between for dozens of hours and are getting fed up of hearing the same tunes, this patch is a must-download. If you want to see an exhaustive list of every change this update brings you can read the full patch notes over on the Elden Ring website.
This first patch comes in the wake of the news that Elden Ring has been a massive commercial success. The critically acclaimed game has sold 12 million copies in its first two weeks on sale. To put that in context, after around four years on sale Dark Souls 3 had sold around 10 million units.
After absolutely smashing its sale expectations, it’s no wonder that publisher Bandai Namco has already confirmed that Elden Ring is now considered a franchise and will be expanded in the future. It’s likely that this first major patch is just the start of a wave of fresh Elden Ring content over the next few years.
