FromSoftware's First Horse Armor Experiment Hits a Snag as Elden Ring Players Dupe DLC Items
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
FromSoftware patched a multiplayer exploit that let Elden Ring players duplicate items from the new Tarnished Pack DLC for free. The community embraced the loophole as a clever workaround to the studio's unexpected foray into microtransactions and cosmetic horse armor.
FromSoftware and Bandai Namco recently pushed out a quick patch to close a multiplayer loophole that let Elden Ring players duplicate items from the new Tarnished Pack DLC for free. Released alongside the expanded Nintendo Switch 2 edition, the DLC brought new starting classes, gear, and cosmetic horse armor for Torrent. While microtransactions are standard industry practice today, the community reacted with a mix of surprise and amusement because FromSoftware has traditionally avoided small add-ons in favor of massive story expansions like Shadow of the Erdtree.
As Rock Paper Shotgun originally reported, the community quickly discovered that joining multiplayer sessions allowed players without the DLC to acquire duplicate items anyway. Reddit and other social spaces lit up with clever workarounds before patch 1.17.1 arrived to shut down the exploit. The update notes were characteristically brief, confirming only that an issue allowing ineligible players to obtain DLC items under specific conditions has been resolved.
For a studio whose lore heavily emphasizes the prestige of rare weapons and hidden gear, putting cosmetic trinkets behind a paywall feels a bit out of character. Modern gaming economies are full of battle passes and cosmetic bundles, but seeing FromSoftware dip into this particular monetization model raises eyebrows. Hopefully, this remains a one-off experiment rather than the start of a broader trend for future titles.
Tags: Elden Ring, FromSoftware, Gaming News, PC Gaming, DLC
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun