Sadly, I don’t have any possible news on if or when the Dark Souls PC servers will return. And at this point, I’m now in the camp that maybe the servers will ever return, and that pains me to say. Ever since I wrote this article back on April 4th, I’ve been hitting up each contact I’ve had. I’ve reached out to multiple Bandai Namco and PR contacts, none of which have provided a response. I’ve harassed the Dark Souls Twitter account, with no success. And I’m sure the moderators over in the Dark Souls Discord server are tired of me asking them what’s going on.
With no Dark Souls PC servers, that means no co-op or PVP, something that has prolonged the life of all the Dark Souls games, on PC or console. As I watch the Reddit Dark Souls communities, I’m seeing more players grow increasingly frustrated, with more of them claiming they’re done with the game. I suppose that doesn’t matter to Bandai Namco and Fromsoftware, as they already have their money. But what does hurt is both companies’ reputations. The longer this continues, the more PC players may stop purchasing PC games from Bandai Namco, as a result of this. I could be reaching a bit, but I’ve seen worse.
While a part of me still hopes the servers will return, eventually. I find myself not caring anymore. While I’ve enjoyed my time with Elden Ring. After multiple playthroughs, I’ve found myself firing up Dark Souls –then closing the game, out of frustration and disgust at how we’re being treated. At the very least, BN and Fromsoftware could make an announcement and let us know what is going on. Though, I suppose transparency regarding a gaming series that isn’t making them any more money or not as much, is asking too much.
**Originally posted on April 4th, 2022**
On Jan. 23, 2022, the Dark Souls PC servers all went dark. Thanks to an RCE (Remote Code Execution) exploit, Bandai Namco and Fromsoftware took the Dark Souls 1, 2, and 3 PC servers offline; they’ve been down ever since.
Bandai Namco originally stated that it would be looking into correcting the RCE exploit from affecting others. Then later in February, they stated they would remain offline until after Elden Ring was released. Two months after the server went offline and a month after Elden Ring was released, the Darks Souls PC servers are still down. So far, Bandai Namco has been radio silent, and the Dark Souls Twitter account hasn’t been updated since February 9th, 2022.
Meanwhile, the Dark Souls PC community grows frustrated with the lack of updates and cannot play the games they paid for as intended. With the servers offline, the ability to coop, invasions, and PVP are completely removed. Sadly, it feels as if the PC is being treated as if it doesn’t matter. Could you imagine if this happened to the console version of the same games?
What’s happened so far
We’ve been following the status of the Dark Souls PC servers since the RCE exploit had surfaced, up until Bandai Namco went radio silent in each of these articles.
- Dark Souls RCE exploit discovered – https://www.theouterhaven.net/2022/01/a-new-rce-exploit-for-dark-souls-iii-pc-has-been-discovered/
- Dark Souls PC servers taken offline – https://www.theouterhaven.net/2022/01/bandai-namco-has-taken-all-dark-souls-pc-servers-offline/
- Dark Souls PC servers to take offline until after Elden Ring is released – https://www.theouterhaven.net/2022/02/bandai-namcos-dark-souls-pc-servers-update-isnt-one-we-wanted/
- Dark Souls PC servers are still offline – https://www.theouterhaven.net/2022/03/its-been-two-months-since-the-pc-dark-souls-servers-were-taken-offline/
With still no response from Bandai Namco, we don’t know what is going on. Nor do we know when the Dark Souls PC servers will come back online. That is if they ever will. We’re hoping to get an update, and when we do, we’ll update our article accordingly.
