Despite 104 days of darkness, will the Dark Souls games ever get their online features back?

Elden Ring and Dark Souls have many similarities as both the games are pinnacles of the soulslike experience that FromSoftware has provided to gamers. The first IP is the most recent one and has been a grand success, while the latter has three games under it, all of which have received fan and critical acclaim.

However, it has been over 103 days since the online component of the Dark Souls games was discontinued on PC. There have been a few updates since, and the question naturally arises - will the games ever get internet connectivity on PCs?

The problem caused is due to the exploit of a feature in all three games in the series. Using the exploit, an attacker can target all the PCs of players logged in for a gaming session.

However, Bandai Namco took down the online feature from the Dark Souls franchise before an attack could happen. While one would have hoped that things would change, little progress has been made in the nearly four months since the incident.

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Dark Souls games are yet to come back online on players' PCs worldwide

The servers of the three Dark Souls games were taken down on January 23, 2022. Bandai Namco informed players in February that things would return to normal once they are done with the release of Elden Ring.

The new game was released as per schedule and is about to complete two-and-a-half months in existence. Yet, there has been no update on the fate of the PC players and their multiplayer aspirations.

The problem arose when it was spotted by Reddit user u/Jonientz, who observed remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability. This would allow a potential attacker to run codes and download payloads on the PC of any player who was logged in to the online services.

Given the gravity of the situation, what Bandai Namco did back then makes sense. Continuation of the exploit could have resulted in massive damage to the PCs of players who would have been playing any of the three Dark Souls games.

All three games still have an ample number of players active today, and hence it was more important for Bandai Namco to protect its players.

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Will Dark Souls ever go online again?

As mentioned earlier, it has been about 104 days since the games' online elements were taken down. Since February, there has been no update, and Bandai Namco has provided no information as well.

However, it should be noted that this problem was there in the closed beta test of Elden Ring. Since then, Bandai Namco has ensured that the exploit was not present in the full release of Elden Ring. This will hint that Bandai Namco knows the solution to an extent.

The multiplayer aspect of the Dark Souls game isn't just about PvP. Core elements like messaging a friend in-game also require internet connectivity. It is only PC players who have suffered from it as the problems haven't been present in the consoles.

Sales-wise, all three Dark Souls games have done well so far. While Elden Ring might be the new kid on the block, the reputation of FromSoftware has been greatly built by the games it has made in the past.

Fans have been eagerly asking about the issues to be fixed. While there has been no official information, it is unlikely that Bandai Namco will not fix the issue. There were reports of them rolling out an update in mid-April, but that has not materialized.

For the time being, PC players will have to play the games without getting accessibility to the online features. It is manageable, but it is not ideal, and one will hope that Bandai Namco will quickly sort out the issues.