The highly anticipated next game from developer FromSoftware, Elden Ring was expected to launch early next year in January. However, today, the Elden Ring team has announced that the game has been delayed. The game will now release on February 25, 2022. In the official press release, the developers say that “the depth of the game and the degree of freedom in strategy exceeded the initial expectations, hence it has been decided to extend the development time for final adjustments thus moving the release date to February 25, 2022.” In addition to the delay, the Elden Ring team also announced that the game will be getting a network test planned for November 12.
The network test will be available for selected fans who will be able to experience the opening hours of the game to get a hands-on glimpse at what the full game will have to offer. It also helps the development team in testing the game’s online servers ahead of its release. Anyone interested will have to sign up for a chance to participate in the network test. Registration ends on November 1, 2021. Elden Ring will be available to test on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. The game will allow for cross-play multiplayer so players on the PlayStation or Xbox platforms can play together but PlayStation players cannot play with Xbox players.
The network test will run throughout the weekend of November 12-15 and the closed network servers will be open during 5 sessions. Session 1 is on Friday, November 12, and will run from 3 am – 6 am PT. Session 2 takes place from 7 pm – 10pm PT. Session 3 will take place on Saturday, November 13, and runs from 11 am – 2 pm PT. The last two sessions, 4 and 5, will take place on Sunday, November 14. Session 4 will go from 3 am – 6 am PT and Session 5 will run from 7 pm – 10 pm PT.