Ok, I get it. We all have lives, and stuff happens while we live them. We do have to eat, go to work, take care of fires, and even eat. So, when a game like Elden Ring, Dark Souls, or Bloodborne comes around, demanding our time and being selfish when we need to step away. Yes, people do need a pause button for the game and maybe for our lives. Well, help is here — if you’re playing the PC version of Elden Ring, that is. There’s nothing that can be done about pausing our actual lives. Sorry.
In this piece, I will show you an exceptional and handy mod that gets you that pause feature you so desperately want or need.
Ok, so how do I pause in Elden Ring?
Aptly named, Pause The Game does what it sounds like it does. No fish or anything else, Pause The Game merely requires you to drop change the Elden Ring executable and replace it with the one included in the download. This way, Easy Anti-Cheat doesn’t load and gets you banned from ever going online. Once installed, all you’ll need to do is press the assigned key or change/map it, and you’re in business. It’s really simple.
Download Pause The Game from Nexus Mods.
However, you might be wondering why didn’t Fromsoftware implement this into Elden Ring themselves? Well, that’s easy to explain, actually. Elden Ring, just like Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls before it, all have an online component. This component allows players to group up with others for some jolly cooperation or some dastardly PVP engagements. For this to work, online is constantly required and enabled. Without it, you might as well be playing Sekiro, which does have a pause button.
With the Pause The Game mod, disabling Easy Anti-Cheat, which is required for going online, you render the game unable to go online. Sure, you get the pause button, but you also miss out on the online components. Messages, both helpful and not so helpful, will be absent. Nor will you be able to call on a helpful soul to get you past a boss encounter that you’ve been stuck on for hours. Sure, there are some NPCs that can be summoned, but they’re nothing like the real thing.
So, enjoy the pause — but you won’t be able to play with me in Elden Ring online. Oh, yeah, I’m on all platforms. I’m crazy like that. But if you ever need some help and decide to give up that pause button. Look me up.
