Elden Ring fans expecting the new two-player mode patch 1.02 are going to have to wait a bit longer. The update was delayed after tsunami warnings were issued across the Pacific, affecting areas like Hawaii, Japan, and the Philippines. Safety comes first, so FromSoftware pushed the patch release to Thursday, July 31, after 1am PT / 4am ET / 9am BST.
The tsunami alerts led to evacuation orders for around 1.9 million people, with a 4.3ft (1.3m) wave already hitting Japan’s northern Iwate prefecture. Because of this, FromSoftware also announced that the return of the Everdark Sovereign will be held back until the patch is out.
It’s kinda wild that real-world events like this can affect game updates, but hey, life doesn’t pause for patches. The delay means the multiplayer expansion for Elden Ring won’t be available right away, which might frustrate some, but it’s understandable.
Due to the tsunami warning following the earthquake near the Kamchatka Peninsula, we have decided to postpone the distribution of the 'ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN' Patch 1.02, which was scheduled for today to tomorrow, July 31 (Thursday) after 10:00CEST | 1:00 PDT.
— ELDEN RING (@ELDENRING) July 30, 2025
Elden Ring Nightreign came out earlier this year and, despite mixed reactions, it’s done well commercially. SteamDB shows it hit a peak of 313,593 concurrent users on Steam shortly after launch, the second highest for FromSoftware, only behind Elden Ring itself with a staggering 953,426 peak.
Bandai Namco revealed the game sold 2 million copies on day one and has since passed 5 million units sold. Still, the game’s reception was lukewarm at best. What’s the deal with FromSoftware’s timing? Guess they figured safety trumps hype. But why announce a patch during such unstable times? Weird move. Anyway, the patch will arrive soon, and fans can finally test the two-player mode properly. Will it breathe new life into Nightreign? Or just add to the chaos?