It’s no hot take to say that the 2022 open-world RPG smash hit Elden Ring is probably one of the most successful games in Bandai Namco’s library, and definitely the most successful game from From Software. The game sold more than 20 million copies as of last year, with even more sales being made in the year since, so one would think that Bandai Namco would hold on to such a massive IP with a death grip, but as it turns out, Elden Ring has somehow slipped through the fingers of Bandai Namco and is now the property of From Software specifically.
As shown on the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s website it looks like From Software is now the owner of the Elden Ring IP as of last year, and with Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree looking to come out this year, possibly even this month, this news couldn’t have gone public soon enough, as no doubt many in Fromsoft’s player base will be more than willing to buy the much-hyped expansion in order to support their favorite game studio.
It’s surprising that Bandai Namco let such a golden goose go, though one has to keep in mind that Bandai Namco still own the rights to the Dark Souls IP, so if the video game megacorporation ever wants to pull from the Souls-like well again they can always try to reinvigorate that property, though any endeavor will likely be met with resistance from the fanbase, as a potential Dark Souls sequel might go without input from From Software themselves.
While no doubt this is viewed as a victory from fans of Souls-likes and especially From Software’s work in general, it should still be warned that this news be approached with a bit of caution. As we reported weeks ago, Elden Ring is set to launch mobile game developed by Tencent of all companies, which is not news that anyone wants to hear regarding their favorite series. News like this can give the dreadful feeling that, without Bandai Namco’s deep coffers, Fromsoft instead looked to a different backer to fund their new projects in Tencent; trading one megacorporation for another, possibly worse one.
But this is all speculation. As of now, we have no deeper knowledge in regards to this acquisition, only that the future is uncertain, but not necessarily dark. We can only wait and see what From Software does in regards to their new, multi-million dollar franchise.