The Unfortunate Truth About That Elden Ring Footage
"Elden Ring" fans are clearly tired of waiting patiently for news of the upcoming fantasy game by FromSoftware and George R.R. Martin, so they've begun making their own content. A recent bit of footage, purportedly from "Elden Ring," has been making the rounds online and exciting gamers all over. Unfortunately, it has been revealed that this footage was faked.
Redditor Blue_Affinity posted that "A 3D environment from a talented artist is being incorrectly advertised as a part of 'Elden Ring.'" Blue_Affinity credited the image to Jack Phan, a 3D environments artist, and linked to his ArtStation page. Visiting that page reveals that the six seconds of footage were, in fact, renders created by the talented artist.
Expectant gamers were dumbfounded by the reveal, and heartbroken that they'd been lied to yet again. One gamer suggested that maybe the game isn't even real, and that the community just experienced a "mass hallucination event." Gamers didn't hallucinate "Elden Ring," though, even if it feels like a far away dream.
This news comes on the heels of another suspected fake: a rumored "Elden Ring" screenshot that "leaked" last week on 4Chan. That image featured a date, which many fans thought might hint at a big announcement regarding "Elden Ring." Some even went so far as to suggest the announcement would be made at E3. FromSoftware has yet to comment on the authenticity of this screenshot, but fans have their doubts.
Elden Ring delays prompt comparisons
Some responses compared the lengthy development of "Elden Ring" to George R.R. Martin's other famous project, "A Song of Ice and Fire," the book series "Game of Thrones" is based on. One Martin fan said, "Been way longer for the ones waiting on the last book of the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series... why does anyone expect 'Elden Ring' to be out in this century?" At this point, "Game of Thrones" will get a Broadway adaptation before the final book releases.
No one is entirely sure why the image was attributed to "Elden Ring," but it's likely that gamers desperate for news manufactured the "leak," perhaps even to spur FromSoftware to make an announcement of its own. However, that seems unlikely.
One player compared delays in the development of "Elden Ring" to "Hollow Knight: Silksong," another long-awaited game. "Silksong" seems farther along in development than "Elden Ring," and might even release soon. At the very least, its developers are talking about it, and have even discussed how it differs from its predecessor, "Hollow Knight."
At the end of the day, gamers are only doing what they do best in the face of delays: speculating and confronting the situation with equal parts despair and optimism. One Redditor may have summed up the entire situation best: "We got bamboozled yet again." Fans want to believe that leaks are real because they want news about long-awaited titles. And really, who can blame them for that?