It turns out that, despite the fact that Elden Ring has been estimated by one of its own development team as taking 30 hours, the actual content in the game can reach far beyond that, even for those just looking to finish the main story. Without a lot of detours, the 30-hour estimation has generated some conversation about how long it takes to beat Elden Ring, but this is only a rough estimate for players who are focusing solely on the game's main path with minimal to zero unnecessary exploration or side questing. Compared to the time it takes to complete other Soul's series games and other open-world RPGs, chances are Elden Ring will certainly take more than 30 hours to get anywhere near the end.
Elden Ring is FromSoftware's largest game to date and this is the first time there is an open-world title in the Souls series. Considering the length of the previous Souls games - with Dark Souls 2 being the longest to complete at 44 hours (according to How Long to Beat) - and the open-world nature of Elden Ring, it is safe to assume that finishing it could take a lot longer for anyone planning to explore much of the Lands Between. Comparing Elden Ring to notable open-world titles such as The Witcher 3 and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the hours for main route completion were at 51 hours and 50 hours respectively. Only 30 hours for the completion of Elden Ring feels off considering that players would likely be under-leveled by solely completing the main route, which would make any of those primary boss encounters extremely difficult, and would defeat the purpose of the game being open-world.
The 30-hour estimate was revealed in an extensive interview on Taipei Game Show 2022’s special broadcast with Elden Ring producer Yasuhiro Kitao. When asked whether players can obtain 100% competition in one playthrough, Kitao stated that "technically, it's impossible to reach 100% due to the fact that there are branching points near the end, but you can certainly get pretty close." Two recent releases that have advertised a completion time of around 30 hours but have been more lengthy in the end are Dying Light 2 and Horizon Forbidden West. For the full completionists looking for platinum trophies, Horizon Forbidden West takes about 60 hours and Dying Light 2 takes around 100.
Taipei Game Show 2022’s Special Elden Ring Broadcast Is for Fans Not Wanting to Go In Completely Blind
It's possible that a company wouldn't want to oversell the number of hours gameplay players may average, and given that Elden Ring seems capable of delivering 80 or more for those who really take their time, perhaps it was simply seen as better to give a number at the lower end of the spectrum to avoid disappointing anyone. It could also be easy to get lost in new games, and some players, upon realizing that there are hundreds of more hours until reaching the completionist threshold, might find themselves plagued by burnout.
Elden Ring's map size is huge, and Kitao stresses that the dev team designed the game with a 30-hour cap in mind early in development. There are a lot of factors that complicate estimates of playtime, and it's impossible to know the number of hours it will take any given player to fully complete something. Keeping the 30-hour estimate in mind, it appears that Elden Ring's main story won’t be as long as the campaigns in comparable open-world games such as the previously mentioned Witcher 3 and Breath of the Wild, but will be roughly as long as many of FromSoftware’s previous titles.
As Elden Ring players can approach the game's six main areas in an order of their choosing, can face optional bosses and dungeons, and can be faced with one of the multiple endings, there's likely to be plenty of diversion. Outside just the main story, Elden Ring offers hours more content. A type of New Game+ will additionally be present, allowing a challenge for fans who want to immediately dive back in. Players will be occupied for a while, but should take solace in knowing the game can likely be as long or short as they choose to make it. For swift players, those who would like to take their time, and full completionist, Elden Ring is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Sources: BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Southeast Asia/YouTube, How Long To Beat