Elden Ring DLC expectations reach fever pitch after multiple subtle updates

Expectation for an Elden Ring DLC announcement has reached fever pitch after Bandai Namco updated a YouTube playlist.

Earlier this week, January 15, Twitter users noticed that Bandai Namco's European YouTube channel had updated its playlist containing all Elden Ring trailers and gameplay footage. Now, January 18, Bandai Namco's America-facing YouTube channel has done the same, leading fans to expect that an announcement surrounding Shadow of the Erdtree is imminent.

The playlists don't actually have anything new to them right now, but the updates mean Bandai Namco could've added a video that hasn't been made public yet. Fans are expecting this to be a new trailer for Shadow of the Erdtree, one that maybe reveals the final release date for the new DLC, or at the very least some new gameplay footage for the Elden Ring DLC.

This all follows Elden Ring's DLC entry on Steam receiving a mysterious update earlier this week, for the first time in two years. An "unknown app" was added to the game's DLC entry, which, just like the Bandai Namco YouTube updates, doesn't mean anything right now, but could mean that preparations for an announcement are underway behind the scenes.

Shadow of the Erdtree was only announced back in February 2023, so it hasn't even been a full year since the expansion was unveiled. Last month though, we finally got an update on the DLC for the first time since the reveal, with an Elden Ring producer saying the DLC was "progressing well" but "a little ways off" from launching. Could that mean an imminent release date reveal is off the cards?

Elsewhere, Elden Ring's latest 1.10.1 patch added anti-cheat and literally nothing else earlier this week, if you were hoping for some huge balance patch.