Are the PC Dark Souls servers ever coming back?
Today marks the 66th day that Bandai Namco was forced to take all of the PC Dark Souls servers offline. All thanks to a rather nasty RCE exploit that allowed someone to gain access to your computer and steal valuable information, and wreck that very same computer. Thankfully, this exploit, while known, didn’t get to cause any damage. Regardless, the damage was done and all the Dark Souls PC servers were down for the count.
Fast forward a few days later, Bandai Namco was radio silent over the ordeal. After taking those Dark Souls PC servers offline, we didn’t hear anything from the company or its community managers. When I asked one CM, which I won’t name, all I was told to do was follow the Dark Souls Twitter page. To which I replied that I had been following that account since it was willed into existence.
Shortly after that exchange, the Dark Souls Twitter account had posted an update. One that the Dark Souls community and myself didn’t want to see — that there was no ETA on when the servers would be back online. That those servers would stay offline until after the release of Elden Ring. Sure, the news was terrible for those who live for jolly cooperation or PVP shenanigans. Of course, this was due to the available resources at Bandai Namco and Fromosoftware attempting to make sure that this RCE exploit would not affect Elden Ring’s launch.
#DarkSouls pic.twitter.com/ZRhX9OcvQe
— Dark Souls (@DarkSoulsGame) February 9, 2022
We’re now a month and several days from the release of Elden Ring, and there has been no word about the Dark Souls PC servers. Thinking that maybe Bandai Namco may have just forgotten about things, I attempted to log into each game. In the back of my mind, I was hoping that they had patched some code and flipped the switch, bringing the servers back on. Sadly, that wasn’t the outcome at all.
All of the Dark Souls PC servers, up to this day, are still down. After sending several emails to Bandai Namco and hoping they would at least provide us with an update. Seeing how we’re following and providing coverage for this story, so far we haven’t heard back. Perhaps if a bigger change would step in and query about the servers, then maybe the Dark Souls community would get an update. But for now, if you’re looking for answers, we don’t have any.
I’ve spoken to a number of people over in the Dark Souls subreddits and a few Twitter users, and sadly they all shared a common theme. That being, they’ve given up on when the servers will make a return. Several of them have stated that they don’t care anymore and likely won’t return if/when they will. This is a bad sign for a game that should have died out by now. But thanks to the community, it has been going strong, in running new players through the game, making fun and exciting videos, and, yes, lots of PVP. While I don’t see the community leaving the game altogether, there are a number of frustrated fans, and rightfully so.
If you’re looking forward to playing Dark Souls as it’s meant to be played, then your only recourse, for now, is to play on the consoles. I know that may not be the answer you’re looking for, but that’s what it is. Before Elden Ring being released, I had already started a new character in Dark Souls 2 and 3, so that I could get back into some PVP action. Then, I realized I didn’t want to do it again and stopped.
Now, I know someone will chime in and say, “Why don’t you just go PVP in Elden Ring?” To that question, I’ll say this “Have you seen the shit that’s been going on already?” Elden Ring is not without its fair share of issues regarding exploits. We’ve already seen that one JERK is already able to run exploits in the game and has caused several players to be instantly killed, soft-banned and others stuck in an infinite death look. So, yeah, I’m going to pass on that notion.
https://twitter.com/EldenRingUpdate/status/1504958027925008387
Today marks the 66th day that the Dark Souls PC servers were taken offline, and I’m fearful of when they’ll be accessible again. We need a sign, Bandai Namco and Fromsoftware. A sign that you haven’t given up on Dark Souls and us.
