Elden Ring has been delayed into February

Elden Ring - A player character and a blue phantom character both attack an enemy.

(Image credit: FromSoftware)

Elden Ring has been delayed by a month, developer From Software announced on Twitter this afternoon.

Initially set to arrive next January 21st, the studio today revealed that it needs an extra month to work on the game, claiming that the "depth & strategic freedom of the game exceeded initial expectations". Or, in layman's terms, it likely means the game's world and systems need a bit more time to polish up before they're ready for launch.

Important message:ELDEN RING will release on Feb 25, 2022, as the depth & strategic freedom of the game exceeded initial expectations. Thank you for your trust & patience. We look forward to seeing you experience the game in the Closed Network Test in Nov.The #ELDENRING TeamOctober 18, 2021

Of course, this delay also comes after an entire 27 seconds of Elden Ring footage leaked over the weekend, and while the leaker caveated that it was from an older, last-gen build of the game, some commenters have already complained about the game's visuals.

Elden Ring is supposedly in its final stages of development according to producer Yasuhiro Kitao. He also confirmed that, while an open world game, we shouldn't expect Elden Ring to be crammed full of "errand quests" or dull checklists.

With Elden Ring now joining Sifu, Saints Row, Destiny 2: The Witch Queen, Life is Strange: Remastered and Blood Bowl 3, February is now looking to be a fairly crammed month. We'll see if any developers end up shifting their dates to avoid FromSoft's juggernaut, as Factorio did with Cyberpunk 2077.

20 years ago, Nat played Jet Set Radio Future for the first time, and she's not stopped thinking about games since. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, she comes from three years of freelance reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun, Waypoint, VG247 and more. Embedded in the European indie scene and a part-time game developer herself, Nat is always looking for a new curiosity to scream about—whether it's the next best indie darling, or simply someone modding a Scotmid into Black Mesa. She also unofficially appears in Apex Legends under the pseudonym Horizon.