The Dark Souls PC servers have been taken offline by Bandai Namco Entertainment and FromSoftware following reports of a multiplayer exploit. The Dark Souls games feature online multiplayer that allows players to jump into each others' playthroughs to offer a helping hand, among other things. With how difficult the games are, co-op is one of the best ways to play Dark Souls.
Despite already having several spiritual successors, such as 2019’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and the upcoming Elden Ring, as well as last year’s Demon’s Souls Remake, many fans still play the three main Dark Souls games. Modders have even gone as far as creating their own sequel for the original Dark Souls called Nightfall, proving the games' popularity even long after their release.
Bandai Namco and From Software announced through the Dark Souls Twitter account (via Kotaku) that the servers for Dark Souls 3, Dark Souls 2, and Dark Souls: Remastered have been temporarily taken offline, with the servers for Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition to follow shortly, due to an “issue with online services.” While the announcement did not share any details on the issue, it’s most likely referring to an RCE exploit shared by Reddit user TripleBrownMeow, sparking concerns it could affect Elden Ring multiplayer as well. Additionally, Bandai Namco replied to the post saying that a report has already been “submitted to the relevant internal teams.” At the time of writing, it seems servers are still offline.
The RCE exploit allows hackers to remotely access and control a player’s PC. From there they can execute commands, steal sensitive data or information, and even brick it. A post on the Dark Souls 3 subreddit by user Jonientz explains that only a handful of people know how to execute the exploit. The hack was also seen in action during a recent livestream, which is said to have been executed by one of the aforementioned people knowledgeable about the hack to gain the attention of Bandai Namco and FromSoftware.
While the three Dark Souls PC servers have already been taken down, fans are still concerned that the same exploit may be present in Elden Ring. Elden Ring’s release date is next month, and an issue this serious could definitely put people off from playing the game at launch if there’s no assurance that it’s fixed. While it's unlikely that such a highly-anticipated game could be delayed by such an exploit, it could well impact plans to implement the multiplayer at launch.
Hopefully, Bandai Namco and FromSoftware are able to deal with the issue in a timely manner, not just for those who still want to play any of the affected Dark Souls titles but also for those who may be wary that it could also affect Elden Ring. Fans will just have to wait until either or both of the companies make an official announcement on the matter, which should hopefully clear up concerns about the links between Dark Souls and Elden Ring multiplayer.
Source: DarkSoulsGame/Twitter, TripleBrownMeow/Reddit, Jonientz/Reddit (via Kotaku)