Bandai Namco has confirmed that Elden Ring will launch with its PvP multiplayer servers active on PC, having put in place the “necessary security measures” to counter the security flaw that was recently discovered to persist through the Dark Souls series.
The focus, it seems, has been on securing the new game from FromSoftware from the remote code execution (RCE) exploit, with Dark Souls PvP servers on PC to remain offline until sometime after Elden Ring has shipped on 25th February. The PlayStation and Xbox versions of all games are unaffected by the issue.
#DarkSouls pic.twitter.com/ZRhX9OcvQe
— Dark Souls (@DarkSoulsGame) February 9, 2022
In the statement released on Twitter, Bandai Namco said:
Bandai Namco Entertainment and FromSoftware are aware of the technical difficulties players have experienced with the Dark Souls suite of games on PC.
We want to thank the entire Dark Souls community and the players who have reached out to us directly to voice their concerns and offer solutions. Thanks to you, we have identified the cause and are working on fixing the issue.
In addition, we have extended the investigation to Elden Ring – our upcoming title launching on 25th February – and have made sure the necessary security measures are in place for this title on all target platforms.
Due to the time required to set up proper testing environments, online services for the Dark Souls series on PC will not resume until after the release of Elden Ring. We will continue to do everything we can to bring back these services as soon as possible.
We will make an announcement as soon as the schedule is determined for resuming online services. Please stay tuned to the Dark Souls social media channels for updates.
Once again, please allow us to share our thanks to your, our passionate community.
RCE exploits are a huge issue for Bandai Namco and FromSoftware to be dealing with, as they allow hackers to run arbitrary code that has free reign over a computer. This can be used to mess with and corrupt someone’s game save, but that’s getting off lightly when it could also install malware to capture login details, brick computers, install bitcoin miners and more.
Given the way that code has been iterated upon from one game to the next by FromSoftware (which is completely expected and reasonable), this exploit has been able able to go undiscovered for a long period of time, only to really be noticed within the last year. However, even if code is being reused in certain parts of a game and if there’s a clear and obvious fix for the issue, it can still be tricky to go back and fix a games that are now up to a decade old.
While the servers are offline, the community quickly stepped up to address the issue before Bandai Namco reacted. A PvP overhaul mode for Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition and the anti-cheat Blue Sentinel mod for Dark Souls 3 both claim to have patched the RCE exploit. Still, it’s the right move for the servers to remain offline for the time being.
