Not explicitly. In June 2024 interviews, FromSoftware president and game director Hidetaka Miyazaki said the studio believes in difficult games, wants their challenges to feel fair, and still has room to improve. He did not say that Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree was too difficult or unfair. The claim that the expansion might be FromSoftware’s hardest came from a reporter’s assessment, not an official admission.
What Miyazaki actually said about difficulty
Asked about the difficulty debate around Shadow of the Erdtree, Miyazaki told Game Informer on June 24, 2024: “We believe in difficult games, but not games that are unjustly or unfairly so. But, of course, there’s still room for improvement on our side, as well.”
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That is an acknowledgment that FromSoftware’s difficulty design can improve, not a concession that this expansion crossed the line into unfairness. In the same answer, Miyazaki described a learning curve and a feedback loop: players should be able to learn from one attempt and apply that knowledge on the next. He did not single out a boss or say the DLC as a whole was too hard.
Where the “hardest FromSoftware game” claim came from
A June 21, 2024 Guardian interview characterized the expansion as potentially FromSoftware’s most difficult yet, noting that even players with extensive experience in the Lands Between could be put on the back foot. That is the reporter’s qualitative assessment, not a measured ranking or a statement attributed to Miyazaki.
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Miyazaki’s comments in that interview focused on the design of the base game’s open world. He said: “At no point during the game did we want players to feel claustrophobic or overly limited in the scope of what they’re able to do and experience in that world.” His point was that players have freedom in how they explore and what they take on; it was not a claim that every DLC encounter is equally accessible or perfectly balanced.
Why Elden Ring pairs challenge with freedom
In a June 17, 2024 GameSpot interview, Miyazaki said the original Elden Ring’s difficulty was adjusted to fit its open-world freedom. Exploration gives players options beyond repeatedly attacking the same obstacle: they can look elsewhere, find another route, or return after making progress. That design rationale helps explain the studio’s approach, but does not prove that every encounter in the expansion feels fair to every player.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to approach a difficult boss
Miyazaki’s comments leave room for different ways to engage with the challenge. These are practical approaches, not strategies the interviews experimentally compared:
- Explore elsewhere. If a fight feels like a wall, pursue another available path or activity and return later with more experience or resources.
- Use attempts as feedback. Watch for a move or opening you can respond to differently next time, rather than treating each loss as proof that progress is impossible.
- Consult a guide if it helps. Miyazaki told GameSpot that using a guide is acceptable and is not a prerequisite imposed by the developers. Looking for a hint is a choice, not a failure to experience the game properly.
What the evidence does—and does not—establish
The interviews document Miyazaki’s position in June 2024; they do not establish a new FromSoftware position in 2026. Nor do the cited articles provide a representative player survey or a formal measure of how difficult the DLC is. The available evidence supports a narrower conclusion: Miyazaki defended challenge as part of the intended experience, emphasized fairness and learning, and acknowledged that the studio could improve its design.
Shadow of the Erdtree is an expansion, not a standalone game. FromSoftware’s February 22, 2024 announcement said it requires the Elden Ring base game and that players must progress through the base game to a certain extent before starting it. The announcement listed PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Steam.
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