Dark Souls multiplayer servers on PC are, tragically, never coming back, as RPG game developer FromSoftware confirms that the original Prepare to Die Edition, which launched back in 2012, will see its online mode closed for good. But there’s good news for Dark Souls 2 and Dark Souls: Remastered fans.
Online services for Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin have been reactivated, with FromSoftware also announcing that the multiplayer component for the base game of Dark Souls 2 will also eventually return. Similarly, multiplayer servers for Dark Souls: Remastered, which launched back in 2018, are still expected to come back, with the Bloodborne and Elden Ring developer saying that the restoration is “still underway”.
“Online features for the PC version of Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin have been reactivated,” FromSoftware says. “Online features for the base version of Dark Souls II for PC will be made available at a later date. Work on the restoration of online services for the PC version of Dark Souls Remastered is still underway, and we will inform you when they return.”
But for all the traditionalists out there, and those of us who remember 2012, and pairing up with some heroic stranger to try – for the hundredth time – to take down Ornstein and Smough, the announcement is much more blighted. “We have determined that we will not be able to support online services for the PC version of Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition that was released in 2012, due to an ageing system,” FromSoftware says. “We apologise for the long wait and ask for your understanding in this matter.”
So ends an era – or, more aptly, an age of fire. Remember, though, you will still be able to play multiplayer on the Remastered edition. We just have to wait now for when it comes back online.
In the meantime, you might want to jump back into FromSoftware’s latest sandbox game and try to find all the Elden Ring crystal tear locations. Alternatively, if you’re heading to the Lands Between for the first time, make sure you take our Elden Ring bosses guide, as well as the best Elden Ring mods, to give the RPG a little extra shine.