Elden Ring opens up its colosseums to multiplayer brawls in free DLC

Elden Ring‘s map is huge and feature-packed, but it has a trio of notable colosseum-sized holes in it. As of tomorrow, those holes will be filled with a free multiplayer-focused DLC, aptly named “Colosseum Update.”

The colosseums of the Lands Between have long been considered the most likely site of duel-centered DLC, as they are large, locked off to (non-modded) players, hinted at in the game lore, and the subject of some intriguing file names and alternate assets and textures. With the December 7 update, the sites in Limgrave, Leyndell, and Caelid will offer “duels, free-for-alls, and team fights,” publisher Bandai Namco announced today.

The trailer says that version 1.08 will let players “join forces to fight for the Elden Ring” and shows three player characters—two of them shaded the light red typical of multiplayer summons and invasions—wandering the landscape, fighting a dragon, and finally opening the doors to a long-locked colosseum. “Then battle for glory in new PvP modes,” the trailer reads, before showing battle scenes between two players, players plus their Spirit Ash summons, and then a three-on-three melee.

It’s unclear how colosseum-based battles will fit into the game’s narrative, in which the colosseums date back to a prior era before the events that put your quest into motion. The player could be warped to an earlier time or an alternate reality or simply see the doors open for reasons hinted at in oblique FromSoftware fashion.

The last major patch for Elden Ring, 1.07, laid important groundwork for better and more easily balanced player versus player (PvP) battles. It separated single-player (PvE) damage-scaling for weapons, spells, and other assets from those of PvP.

It’s pure speculation on my part, but I’d like to believe that the opening scenes suggest that wider support for tag-along multiplayer could be included in this patch. Currently, you can summon other players to assist you at specific summoning pools, which are typically outside bosses and contained areas, but they’ll disappear once you stray past them. Then again, that could just be some storytelling gloss applied to what is largely a battle-focused update.

Plus, numerous game sites and FromSoftware watchers are hoping to see a more expansive Elden Ring DLC announced at this week’s The Game Awards, where the epic game could very well win numerous awards.

Listing image by Bandai Namco