Over 1 Million Players Have Felled the Elden Beast
FromSoftware‘s epic dark fantasy title Elden Ring conjures a tremendous sense of achievement when its end credits finally roll. Despite notorious difficulty scaring many away, a surprising number of heroes have ventured through the fog and completed their quest to become Elden Lord.
1 in 4 Who Start the Journey Reach The End
Detailed player data reveals 25.9% of Elden Ring players on PlayStation have unlocked the secret "Age of Stars" ending. Meanwhile the default finale, "Elden Lord" boasts a 19.6% completion rate.
This means nearly 1 in 5 players who begin their adventure through the Lands Between will reach one of the climactic conclusions, a stunning figure for such an unforgiving game.
As outlined in the table below, these completion percentages outpace comparable recent open world titles:
| Game | Completion Rate |
|---|---|
| Elden Ring | 19.6%-25.9% |
| Horizon Forbidden | 10% |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 17% |
| Assassins Creed Valhalla | 10% |
(Data sourced from gamstat.com, playtracker.net, reddit user analysis)
Cross-referencing known sales data, over 1 million players globally have likely reached Elden Ring‘s epic endings based on these rates.
100 Hours To See It All, 50 To Finish
While simply following critical path content takes around 50 hours, completing all dungeons, side quests and defeating every boss clocks over 130 hours on average according to HowLongToBeat.
Surprisingly, almost 8% of PlayStation players still persist to the very end – earning Elden Ring‘s ultra rare Platinum trophy.
Unsurprisingly, streamers and hardcore gamers lead the charge in terms of playtimes:
- Speedrunner Distortion2 finished his first playthrough in 37 hours
- Popular streamer Asmongold took 52 hours to reach the finale
- 197 hours for user Mortismalgus to achieve the Platinum trophy
(Statistics from YouTube, Twitch VODs and PSNProfiles)
Clearly for many, simply finishing Elden Ring once is not enough…
Maximum Power Level: 713
On their journey to become Elden Lord, players spend runes acquired from felled foes to increase their hero‘s attributes and grow stronger.
Capping out a stat however diminishes any further improvement. Getting every stat to this soft cap of 99 means reaching the maximum level of 713 is possible, albeit requiring potentially hundreds of hours grinding runes.
Dedicated player Cafenn94 provided video evidence of this astonishing feat, looking suitably epic in endgame armor and wielding the legendary rivers of blood katana +10.
Achieving such mastery over the Elden Ring demands commitment few can muster!
Any% Records Under 5 Minutes
For Elden Ring‘s rapidly growing speedrunning community however, getting to the end credits is only the beginning. Top runners compete to complete quests and defeat bosses using ingenious tricks and glitches as fast as possible.
The current Any% world record belongs to LilAggy with a stunning time of 58 minutes 38 seconds. Thanks to new exploits still being discovered however, experts predict the first sub 50 minute run is imminent.
Most recently, unknown runner FirstTwoWeeks shattered expectations to achieve a scarcely believable 4 minutes 58 seconds using dangerous out of bounds tricks. PGSR radio calls it "arguably the greatest speedrun of all time, showcasing the very limits of human capability".
(Statistics via speedrun.com, YouTube speedrun VODs)
Clearly for these gaming gods, not even the Elden Ring can contain their ambition!
The astronomical passion and engagement surrounding Elden Ring even 1 year from release exemplifies its profound impact and allure. Against all odds, the Lands Between call to heroes, warriors, and even ambition-drunk speedrunning fanatics irresistibly.
As DLC expansions loom on the horizon, we will likely see over 2 million brave Tarnished eventually complete their epic quests by 2024.
For this notoriously demanding game often filters out the meek, to endure unto the very end alongside so many extraordinary champions is an honor without equal.
May the flames guide thee, ashen ones.
