Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is already breaking records

The Land of Shadow is casting a shadow over the gaming world in the best possible way, as Elden Ring's long-awaited DLC is finally here. 16 months after we were introduced to the Lands Between, we're stepping out from under that golden foliage for Shadow of the Erdtree.

FromSoftware has delivered some suitably epic DLCs over the years, but with Elden Ring being the developer's most ambitious game to date, it deserves something just as beefy as a DLC. The scores on the doors are in, and while there are grumbles that Shadow of the Erdtree is too hard, it's still soaring up the charts.

Shadow of the Erdtree is breaking DLC records

While review aggregator sites aren't the be-all and end-all of entertainment (look at how fans have been panning The Acolyte), they're usually pretty on it in terms of critical acclaim for video games. Shadow of the Erdtree's Opencritic score is an eye-watering 94/100, while Metacritic has upped it to 95/100.

There are some astounding scores across the board, with sites including IGN, Video Gamer, and GameRadar giving it a 10/10. That's all well and good, but in terms of records, Shadow of the Erdtree is officially the highest-rated DLC of all time. Our own review awarded the expansion 5/5, saying:

"Shadow of the Erdtree is a staggering achievement, and among the best work that FromSoftware has produced. It expands upon Elden Ring with an intricately woven narrative, unrelenting boss challenges, and a world so full of secrets that it's hard to know whether you've truly seen everything the expansion has to offer."

The likes of Oblivion's Shivering Isles, Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty, and GTA IV's The Ballad of Gay Tony DLCs are all held as some of the best - boasting the scores to match. FromSoftware has also given us some amazing expansions over the years, however, even Bloodborne's acclaimed The Old Hunters DLC only sits at 82/100 on Metacritic. 

Importantly, it means Shadow of the Erdtree has overtaken The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine DLC and Xenoblade Chronicles 3's Future Redeemed. The previous record holders had a whopping 92/100 Metacritic score, but apparently, they now live in Shadow of the Erdtree's Shadow. 

It's rare for a DLC to outperform a base game, and while Shadow of the Erdtree doesn't do that, its rave reviews of 95/100 (based on 58 critic reviews) currently make it the 37th highest-rated game of all time. It's still a long way off Ocarina of Time in No.1, but sitting between GTA: Vice City and GTA: San Andreas, it's in good company.