And the News Is Mixed
In late January, Dark Souls PVP servers were taken offline due to a finding security exploit. Bandai Namco took them down in order to ensure that the exploit could not be used by hackers, and protect players from this security risk.
Surprisingly though, the Servers have yet to come back up. Instead of coming back up in a week or less, the Servers have not been put back online- and in fact, will not be coming back for most of February. The developer of Dark Souls and Elden Ring, Bandai Namco, has released a statement, saying that the Dark Soul PVP Servers will be down until after Elden Ring launches- which is currently set for February 25, 2022.
The full Twitter statement states that the security exploit is being investigated for both the Dark Souls games, and for Elden Ring. And, that they will “make an announcement soon” as to when they schedule the Servers coming back live for people to access once again. From the looks of their Twitter statement, Bandi is taking this exploit very seriously, and ensuring to go over everything so that there are no other loopholes or risks.
#DarkSouls pic.twitter.com/ZRhX9OcvQe
— Dark Souls (@DarkSoulsGame) February 9, 2022
Thankfully, there have been no actual reported security breaks, other than the attack that was done on a Dark Souls user’s Twitch. That was more of a publicity stunt (not done by the Twitch streamer, but attacker) to get Bandai’s, and the public’s attention.
However, this could possibly also cause a delay in Elden Ring’s launch. It could be anywhere from days to weeks, depending on how long it will take to find possible ways for hackers to get in through online servers and players to lose their use of service.
On the one hand, it would be disappointing if the open-world game was delayed. On the other hand, it’s far better to be safe than sorry, especially when it comes to security exploits.