Video Games
Rumour: ‘Elden Ring’ Expansion “Shadow of the Erdtree” Coming February 2024?
Things have been pretty quiet lately for the upcoming Elden Ring expansion “Shadow of the Erdtree”, although thanks to Reddit, we may have an actual release date. Not only that, but for those fans who want to go the extra mile, there appears to be a special controller in the works, thanks to Thrustmaster.
The story goes that Philippines retailer Datablitz had posted a listing for an Elden Ring Xbox controller collaboration between Thrustmaster and Bandai Namco that’s set for release in February 2024. In doing so, the listing also showed company slides for the controller collaboration that is apparently set to “sync with new Shadow of the Erdtree expansion release” for the anniversary of the release of Elden Ring (which is February 25th). The listing has now been removed, though not before Reddit user ChiefLeef22 snagged screenshots and info.
Making things even more interesting is that Shadows of the Erdtree may not be the only Elden Ring expansion. An additional slide showed images of two additional controllers, with their release to “be synchronized with 2025 Elden Ring major keybeat or new game expansion.”
Obviously, From Software and Bandai Namco have yet to respond to these leaks (other than forcing the images to be taken down). It’s also strange that we never got any announcement at The Game Awards this year for the expansion, though Bandai Namco is probably wanting to surprise fans for the game’s anniversary.
Elden Ring is available on PC via Steam, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and the Xbox Series.
Thanks to PlayStation Lifestyle for the additional info.
Video Games
Bloody Body Horror Revealed in ‘Stellar Blade: Blood Rain’, Currently in Development [Trailer]
Shift Up has shifted things dramatically from 2024’s action-adventure game Stellar Blade, offering up a body horror bonanza in the newly announced sequel, Stellar Blade: Blood Rain. The sequel is currently early in development, but if the trailer is any indication, players will be in for plenty of body horror.
Continuing the story from the original Stellar Blade, Blood Rain will star a new protagonist named Eve. Earth has been abandoned, and what is left of humanity has fled to a Colony in outer space.
Shift Up had mentioned during a Q&A following its latest earnings presentation last month that development on Blood Rain (which was still unannounced at the time) was progressing smoothly, and was on track to meet their targeted quality standards.
Shift Up stated that with this new title it would be transitioning to a first-party service model, effectively moving away from the restrictions the game experienced with original publisher Sony, which had the game under an exclusivity agreement for the PlayStation 5. “This will allow us to lead marketing strategies that fully reflect the distinctive identity of the Stellar Blade IP, and we expect to communicate the unique appeal of its universe to players more directly and effectively.”
Whether this means that Xbox Players will finally be able to play the original game (or its sequel) is still not clear. Meanwhile, Stellar Blade is reportedly being ported to the Nintendo Switch 2, but no official confirmation has been made.