Gamers gear up for hotly anticipated Elden Ring expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree

This weekend, gamers are gearing up for the most anticipated expansion to a video game series in gaming history.

Close to 600,000 people are today already diving into the latest DLC for Elden Ring – and that's just on PC. 

Elden Ring took out the top gong at the Game Awards in 2022 and has since experienced a surge of players in the lead-up to its hotly anticipated expansion.

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It rapidly gained fame for blending the signature From Software style of brutal, unforgiving combat, with a stunning open world.

This combination made Elden Ring more accessible to the masses, allowing gamers to defer tough boss battles and further explore when stuck. 

Now, Shadow of the Erdtree is expanding Elden Ring's open world, giving players new challenges, weapons, boss fights and story content. 

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The enemies are no more forgiving in the DLC; even the most skilled players are expected to face new challenges. 

To access the new area of the game, there are some prerequisites.

Players must have beaten two bosses: Mohg Lord of Blood and Starscourge Radahn.

Once these bad guys are defeated, players can step into the Shadow Realm. 

Players will experience a large open area, easily compared to the size of Limgrave from the base game. 

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The world of Shadow of the Erdtree offers an exciting and haunting atmosphere for players. 

With a current Metacritic score of 95/100, the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC overtakes 2016's The Witcher 3: Blood & Wine expansion which boasts a critic score of 92/100. 

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is expected to add over 30 hours of new content to the game and is priced at $59.95.

It's available now on PlayStation, Xbox and PC.