Despite the presence of Dark And Darker Gold some occasional exploits and griefing, the companies seem to have overcome this security vulnerability with Elden Ring's online implementation, if it was present in the first place.

FromSoft's tactical reuse of assets and tech from game to game has largely proved to its advantage, but there were worries that this vulnerability could have extended to its most popular game. The Long Dark's getting paid DLC updates for survival mode

If McDonald’s findings are true, it appears that the Souls series servers won't be coming back all at once, with service instead getting restored piecemeal starting with Dark Souls 3.

It makes sense that FromSoft and Bamco would start there, given that DS3 is the most recent release with the liveliest playerbase on Steam. Until then, our vigilant Souls Watch will continue until joyful GiantDads are once again fast rolling across the Undead Burg's cobblestones.

After a successful Kickstarter, Hinterland Games released hardcore survival game The Long Dark via Early Access in 2014, hitting version 1.0 in 2017.

It's continued receiving free updates since, both to its episodic story mode Wintermute and its survival mode, but as director Raphael van Lierop explains in this month's developer diary, that's going to change.

While previously The Long Dark's survival updates had to buy Dark And Darker Gold be be limited in scope due to both modes being connected, the team has been working since the release of episode four to decouple them. That work is now complete, making more significant additions to survival mode possible—though not for free.