FromSoftware has outlined the extent of their collaboration with Nintendo when it comes to Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition.
Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition was one of the big third-party announcements for the Switch 2. It simultaneously demonstrated that Nintendo’s next console would get the kind of ‘serious’ and ‘mature’ games that stereotypically bowed out of Nintendo’s platforms, and that FromSoftware didn’t just become an informal Sony first party studio after the latter’s big investments in them.
As reported by NintendoLife, FromSoftware just revealed some new details about Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition that wasn’t part of the Switch 2 Direct announcement. This version of the game is getting some new content as part of the Switch 2 version. Gamers who already own Elden Ring will also get their chance to get this content, but as part of an upcoming Tarnished Pack DLC, that will be available at Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition’s launch.
So, what is this ‘Tarnished’ content? Two new character classes will be added, in the form of Knight of Ides, and Heavy Knight. There will also be new customization options for Torrent, your character’s dedicated mounted horse.
There will be four armor sets, alongside new weapons and combat skills. As FromSoftware described it, there may be even more content they have yet to reveal now, but players will be finding out later.
FromSoftware’s choice to make ‘Tarnished’ content is certainly interesting. With the benefit of hindsight, we can see that they could have chosen to hold back the release of Shadow of the Erdtree to make it a showcase for the Switch 2. In fact, one could hypothesize that if Nintendo originally had plans to release the Switch 2 in 2024 or earlier, that FromSoftware could have chosen to advertise the Switch 2 version of Elden Ring to have the DLC bundled in.
The ‘Tarnished’ content still functions to give fans incentive to pick up Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition, and FromSoftware seems to particularly want to draw in Nintendo fans who haven’t gotten used to their games yet. Since they’re also making a Tarnished Pack DLC, they clearly don’t want existing customers to feel cheated.
Elden Ring is likely at the top of the rankings of the Switch 2’s most high-profile third-party launch titles, just above Hogwarts Legacy and Cyberpunk 2077. While we believe it’s going to be successful, the extent of its success will be crucial in determining the console’s trajectory. If it ends up becoming a decent hit, FromSoftware may be happy enough and move on. But the huge hopes around the Switch 2 is it could become real competition for PlayStation and Xbox.
The potential for Nintendo to once again see third-party parity with PlayStation and Xbox, could also mean the return of an era where they’re actually competing head to head. That shift might be just what the industry needs, but that all depends on how Elden Ring, and the other launch third-party games on the Switch 2, plays out.
