Japanese development studio Pocket Pair, the team behind Craftopia, is giving staffers the day off on Elden Ring's February 25 launch date. Pocket Pair's multiplayer survival game Craftopia hit PC via Steam in September 2020, then migrated to Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S consoles the following summer. Interestingly, between those two dates, the production crew was given a day off much like the forthcoming Elden Ring-related holiday. Instead of allowing its team to spend some quality time with FromSoftware's latest, however, Pocket Pair's March 2021 holiday revolved around the release of Monster Hunter Rise on Nintendo Switch.
Since time immemorial, workers around the globe have taken the day off to enjoy a specific entertainment release, be it for games, movies, or books. Numerous FromSoftware fans no doubt requested a sick day last fall when publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment delayed Elden Ring by a month, pushing the title out of January and into late February. And given the incredibly high praise the open-world title's received from critics, thus far, reason suggests those who put in for February 25 won't be the least bit disappointed.
Earlier this week, Japanese studio Pocket Pair (via Kotaku) announced plans to give its employees an "Elden Holiday," meaning workers won't have to clock in on Friday, February 25 - Elden Ring's worldwide release date. Company leadership noted in a statement that it imagines staff members will have a difficult time focusing on work. Better still, Pocket Pair can skip the Monday workday as well, giving the crew a total of four days to explore The Lands Between in Elden Ring.
Similar to the Monster Hunter Rise holiday, the Elden Holiday applies to all Pocket Pair staff. Executives at the studio still had work to do on Monster Hunter's due date, however; it's currently unknown whether or not studio leadership will similarly busy themselves with company matters tomorrow. Either way, most employees will likely spend the day exploring what many critics have already deemed a masterpiece.
Announced nearly three years ago during E3 2019, Elden Ring marks FromSoftware's latest partnership with Dark Souls publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment. The storied Japanese development team has produced two other projects since Dark Souls III's 2016 release - PlayStation VR title Déraciné for Sony Interactive Entertainment and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice for Activision. Elden Ring already sounds as though it could prove FromSoftware's and Bandai Namco's most revered project to date.
Elden Ring hits PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on February 25.
Source: Pocket Pair/Twitter (via Kotaku)