'Elden Ring' Has Already Sold a Mind-Boggling 12 Million Copies in Under Three Weeks

Written by MATT VILLEI MAR 16, 2022

Link to original article: https://collider.com/elden-ring-sales-numbers-12-million/

"FromSoftware's previous best-seller was 2016's 'Dark Souls 3.'"

Image via BANDAI NAMCO

FromSoftware has announced that their recently released game Elden Ring has surpassed a sizable milestone in under three weeks. The open-world game has sold an astonishing 12 million copies across all platforms and regions as of March 14, 2022, just 17 days after its release.

Announced via a press release on FromSoftware's official website, which states that Elden Ring has sold 1 million copies in Japan and 11 million copies outside the country, bringing the total sales to 12 million copies worldwide. With a world written by George R. R. Martin, Elden Ring takes the familiar "Souls formula" and makes the transition to an open world and has been highly praised from all across the gaming world, currently sitting at a 96 on Metacritic. “It's astonishing to see just how many people have been playing Elden Ring. I'd like to extend our heartfelt thanks on behalf of the entire development team,” said Hidetaka Miyazaki, President and CEO/Director of FromSoftware. “Elden Ring is based on a mythological story written by George R. R. Martin. We hope players enjoy a high level of freedom when adventuring through its vast world, exploring its many secrets, and facing up to its many threats. Thank you for your continued support.” Yasuo Miyakawa, President and CEO of BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc., the game's publisher, also provided a statement about the game's great success, saying:

Co-development between FromSoftware and BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment has brought to life this new action-RPG, Elden Ring, which has surpassed 12M units in sales worldwide. I would like to use this opportunity to give my thanks to all our fans who have brought Elden Ring into their gaming life. I am very proud to have been involved in bringing such a wonderful and fantastic game to life with FromSoftware, under the guidance of Director Miyazaki, and with George R. R. Martin. Much effort was placed into creating 'Elden Ring' so that we could exceed the expectations of our fans worldwide. In like manner, we will continue our efforts in expanding the brand beyond the game itself, and into everyone’s daily life. We will continue to create enjoyment and fulfillment through entertainment, so that we can come closer and connect to our fans around the world.

Image via BANDAI NAMCO

A noteworthy part of Miyakawa's quote is the part about "expanding the brand beyond the game itself." Along with these statements, the press release also confirmed that more media from outside video games will be taking place within the Lands Between, saying "Please look forward to more of Elden Ring as an IP (characters and other intellectual property) in hopes of expanding beyond the realm of games." This is not the first time that FromSoftware has gone outside the video game genre to explore the worlds of their games, with Bloodborne receiving several comic books and having a brand-new comic coming out on May 7, 2022.

With these official numbers, this easily makes Elden Ring FromSoftware's most successful title of all time. To put this into perspective, their previous best-selling game was 2016's Dark Souls 3, which has seen a total of 10 million sales as of 2020. Elden Ring was able to blow past this milestone in just a few weeks and with that success, it's no surprise that both FromSoftware and BANDAI NAMCO would want to continue to explore the possibilities with their new brand.

Elden Ring is currently available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. There are currently no spin-offs/expansions for Elden Ring currently announced, though it has been confirmed that they will be coming.