Bandai Namco says it's identified the issue that caused a recent Dark Souls PC RCE to exploit to manifest itself, and it's working on a solution. However, as a result, the Dark Souls PC servers will remain dark until after the launch of Elden Ring, which the studio is also investigating.
Why is Bandai Namco investigating a potential Elden Ring RCE exploit?
Last month, Bandai Namco shut down servers for the Dark Souls series on PC after a malicious remote code execution (RCE) exploit was discovered. It's a pretty nasty exploit that allows hackers to use Dark Souls to take control of your computer, install and execute malware, and steal your personal information. Now, Bandai Namco says it's working on a fix for this exploit, and that it has "extended the investigation" to Elden Ring in order to ensure there are no nasty exploits in place when that game launches on February 25th.
Since the same exploit is allegedly present in both Dark Souls and Elden Ring on PC, Bandai Namco says it isn't going to restore online services for Dark Souls until after the launch of Elden Ring. This, the company says, is due to "the time required to set up proper testing environments". The studio says it'll issue further notice once it knows when online services will be resumed for Dark Souls. It's not entirely clear whether this means online functionality won't be present in Elden Ring at launch, but it's worth noting that this issue only affects the PC versions of these games, so if you're playing on consoles, you should be OK.
When is the Elden Ring release date?
If you're hankering for a spot of online Dark Souls, you won't have too long to wait, hopefully. The Elden Ring release date is February 25th. Bandai Namco doesn't specify exactly how long after this date it will take for Dark Souls servers to be put back online, though, so you might be waiting a little while. Still, it's a small price to pay for hackers not being able to brick your computer and install malware just because you wanted to try the GiantDad build, right?
Elden Ring is the latest in what many have called the "Soulsborne" franchise, comprising Dark (and Demon's) Souls, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. It represents a fundamental change to the formula, adding an open-world environment and a freeform structure in which you can theoretically tackle dungeons and challenges in whatever order you like. It's due out later this month on PlayStation consoles, Xbox platforms, and PC. We'll bring you more on this as soon as we get it.
Are you looking forward to Elden Ring? Let us know in the comments below!