"As for George Martin's involvement, essentially it is the same as it was with the base game," said Miyazaki. "The DLC Shadow of the Erdtree is based on one part of that original mythos that he penned for us. It's not a brand new mythos that he's written specifically for Shadow of the Erdtree, he has not created something new which informed the design of the DLC. It's simply another part of the original story that we thought fit to tell as a new expansion."

    Ideas for the DLC began to form around the end of Elden Ring's development, as there were remaining ideas that were "clearly not going to fit in" and would make more sense as DLC. Development then began around the time updates and patches for the base game had begun to settle down.

    It takes place in a brand new area of a brand new map, which includes a similar structure to the original game: field areas, legacy dungeons, and other dungeons of varying scale. "In terms of pure surface area, you could think of something larger even than Limgrave in the base game," said Miyazaki.

  Further, there will be over 10 new boss fights, plus plenty of new weapons, equipment and skills to find. And eight new weapon categories have been added to account for new weapon types.

    Miyazaki specifically mentioned the infamous Malenia boss fight - an extremely tough, yet optional battle. "So players who look for that sort of challenge in our games will find a challenge on equal footing in the DLC as well," he said.

    Further, we see a variety of new environments - haunted grasslands, fiery caverns, mystical ruins - as well as some magnificent new bosses. I'm particularly fond of the horned beast-headed humanoid thing that leaps at the player, spews smoky breath and summons lightning.

    So, you mentioned Miquella earlier, and that's a character that I know fans have had a lot of questions about. Is there anything specifically you can tell us about the role this character will play in the DLC? And I know the trailer opens with a shot of Mohg's boss arena, with the hand hanging out of the cocoon. Will we learn about what Mohg did to him?

    Miyazaki: Yes. The cocoon and arm you saw at the beginning of the trailer – this is actually the point of entry to the Land of Shadow where the players will enter to the DLC area. And this does have some relation to Miquella. And Miquella has, as we said, traveled to the Land of Shadow. He does have some motive and some objective there, which we don't want to give away too much. But essentially the player will be following in those footsteps in the same way that they followed the blessings from the Grace, the Sites of Grace in the Lands Between. They'll be following in Miquella's footsteps, and these will guide them through the Land of Shadow and reveal that motivation to them.

    There were a lot of striking bosses and enemies that were revealed in this trailer, and I was wondering if we could just go through a handful of them one by one and you can either explain who or what they are, tell us an anecdote about their design, or anything you want. And I'm going to do my best to describe them because I don't know the names of them. First off, there's like... a giant basket of flaming kindling.

    Miyazaki: Okay. So this giant basket of flame, as you so eloquently put it, Mitchell, was a terrible weapon you used in a war that occurred in the Land of Shadow, basically. So again, without saying too much, we can't give away the name just yet officially, but yes, it was a really gruesome weapon that was used. And the kindling that you see is actually the remains of bodies that were put in there to burn. So there's that friendly fellow.

    Okay. I'm just going to skip to the last one, if it's okay. But what can you tell me about the man in red with snakes and flames that's kind of like the focal point of this DLC trailer.

    Miyazaki: Yes, we can speak to this character a little bit. This is a, as you say, a key figure of this DLC. We believe he will be officially revealed to be Mesmer by the time the trailer goes live. And yes, he's a key figure in the DLC and he again has this important element of shadow to him, which is a key theme throughout the DLC as well.

    And you may have seen at the end of the trailer, there was this piece of key art where it shows Mesmer sat in this throne-like chair, and people who've played the game may recognize this throne to be one of those from the boss room where you battle Morgott. And this represents the thrones at the base of the Erdtree. And it's supposed to symbolize that Mesmer stands on equal footing to these other demigods and children of Marika who sat around in these thrones and held the rooms of the Erdtree.

    So he is an important figure who rivals these other demigods. And as you play the DLC, you will learn a little about why he wasn't featured in the legends of the Erdtree, the lands between. You'll realize why he exists in this shadow, this land of shadow.


  ――A lot of information has been revealed this time, so please tell us about it. You said earlier that Queen Marika's past will be told, but will the timeline of the DLC be in the past?

    Miyazaki No. The timeline will be the same as the main story. It is not set in the distant past or future.

    I think the past of the land of shadows and Queen Marika would be told in the same way as the history of the Shattered War in the main story.

    --How do you access that area?

    You will be heading there not directly from the field in Miyazaki 's main story, but by transfer.

    The entrance is either a large cracked cocoon, or a withered arm hanging from it, which was the stage of the battle with "Morg, Lord of Blood."

    Also, in order to go to the field of this DLC, you need to defeat "Morg, Lord of Blood" and "Radaan, Starbreaker".

    ――Will the progress of the DLC affect the ending of the main story?

    Miyazaki : No, there is no such thing, and the progress of events in the main story will not change the content of the DLC.

    It's safe to assume that the DLC story will be completed within the DLC.