With Elden Ring being FromSoftware's first attempt at an open world game, there is potential for players to sink dozens of hours into the game. The emphasis on player agency in the game, and the varying skill levels of those trying to conquer Elden Ring's challenges, means the developers only have an estimate on how long it might take to finish a play through. The studio's games are notoriously difficult, and with every Soulsborne game taking a while to beat, Elden Ring is expected to be no different.
Pinning down an estimated completion time for Elden Ring is a bit trickier than FromSoftware's previous action RPGs. While Dark Souls and Bloodborne have plenty of optional side quests, and even some hidden areas, they're ultimately rather straightforward. Elden Ring is expected to have a much looser structure. Sites of Grace (Elden Ring's bonfire analog) will point players in the general direction of the next stop in the main story, but there will be a tremendous amount of side content for the player to explore.
In a new YouTube video from Bandai Namco, an interview hosted by Misuzu Araki with FromSoftware's Yasuhiro Kitao for the Taipei Game Show 2022, Kitao mentions that the developers aimed for Elden Ring's main story to occupy players for around 30 hours. He does, however, note that there's a lot of room for variation depending on a number of factors. Players who opt to thoroughly explore the world will find that the non-essential content "contains many dozens more hours worth of gameplay," and varying skill levels means players may see drastically different play times.
New Game Plus Can Also Affect Elden Ring's Completion Time
Kitao also explained that New Game Plus will entice players to spend more time with Elden Ring. New Game Plus lets players restart the game with the same character, including their current stats and items, just with tougher enemies to fight. Elden Ring will apparently have a narrative that branches in its later sections, meaning players will have to play through multiple times to see every variation first hand. This isn't much of a surprise since past FromSoftware games did the same, like Dark Souls 3 having four different endings, but it's nice to have confirmation on New Game Plus' inclusion.
Even without getting into New Game Plus, many players will likely spend plenty of time in Elden Ring's multiplayer. Both co-op and PvP usually end up being popular features in FromSoftware games, and have a tendency to pad play time. The estimate of 30 hours seems rather low, especially considering the amount of content in the Closed Network Test. Some players managed to play for all 15 available hours in the CNT and didn't even see everything it had to offer, and that was only about half of the game's first area. Experienced Soulslike players might be able to run through Elden Ring in 30 hours or less on their first play through, but the open world seems designed to preoccupy most for longer.