Elden Ring could be delayed further, warns parent company FromSoftware

Elden Ring could face more delays, warns parent company FromSoftware Kadokawa Corp in latest income report.

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Kadokawa Corp’s latest results for the 2021 financial year give some clues as to what’s on the horizon. Kadokawa owns Japanese game developer FromSoftware, the team behind Dark Souls, Sekiro, and the highly anticipated Elden Ring. In one presentation to investors, the group says Elden Ring may not be released by March 2022 as part of its FY2022 period. This is not a big surprise, however, given the silence surrounding the title.

Profits from Kadokawa’s gaming segment are expected to fall 15% in fiscal 2022, and operating profit may fall 52%. This clearly illustrates the lack of a punchy release from one of the industry’s most renowned studios. It is also interesting to note that gambling is not a big part of Kadokawa’s business; gambling accounted for 14 billion yen in FY2021, or 7% of annual revenue.

Elsewhere in the presentation, Kadokawa also said that game projects under development could be delayed due to uncertainties over COVID-19. Work-from-home measures have dramatically halted the development of almost every developing game around the world, and the same is true for Japanese game studios.

Kadokawa Corp currently has three game divisions: Kadokawa Games Ltd., FromSoftware, and Spike Chunsoft.

There is a specific slide for Elden Ring on page 19 outlining Kadokawa’s commitment to new IP games. The slide describes the contributions of George RR Martin and reaffirms that Elden Ring is the greatest game FromSoftware has ever made.

FromSoftware and publisher Bandai Namco have been silent on Elden Ring for a while now, but that could change in June with E3 2021. Bandai Namco will be at the event and it’s possible we’ll get a new sizzle reel. .. but we could all be pretty elden by the time the game comes out.