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Dark Souls PC servers will be down until Elden Ring launches

Anyone playing the Dark Souls games on PC won’t be able to access any multiplayer features until after Elden Ring launches, according to a joint statement from FromSoftware and Bandai Namco.

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— Dark Souls (@DarkSoulsGame) February 9, 2022

Dark Souls games on PC haven’t had their multiplayer servers up for some time now, a move that was made in response to a new exploit. Simply by connecting to other players in-game, the exploit lets hackers remotely execute code on someone else’s computer. According to VGC, the discovery of this exploit led to Dark Souls’ PC servers being shut down.

For any game with multiplayer features, it’s a serious issue, as it leaves anyone vulnerable to having their PC completely taken over simply by playing. Anyone playing the Dark Souls games on PlayStation or Xbox consoles doesn’t have to worry about having their console taken over though, as the exploit can only be used on PC.

According to the statement, Bandai Namco and FromSoftware are aware of the exploit, have identified a cause for it, and are currently working on fixing it. The two companies are also going over Elden Ring, FromSoftware’s upcoming hotly-anticipated title, to ensure that it doesn’t have the same security risks at launch. However, giving this much attention to Elden Ring means Dark Souls’ PC servers are going to stay down until after the game is launched. “Due to the time required to set up proper testing environments, online services for the Dark Souls series on PC will not resume until after the release of Elden Ring,” reads the statement.

For both FromSoftware and Bandai Namco, this exploit couldn’t come at a worse time. Without a proper fix, Elden Ring players on PC, which there are sure to be plenty of once the game launches, will be left vulnerable to having their systems compromised.

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Dark Souls Remastered PC servers are back online for the first time since January
A player looks at messages in Dark Souls.

Bandai Namco Entertainment and FromSoftware have finally restored online functionality for Dark Souls Remastered on PC today. The game's PC servers have been offline since January of this year when a dangerous exploit was discovered.
The PC versions of Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition, Dark Souls Remastered, Dark Souls 2, and Dark Souls 3 had a remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability, which in the worst cases could potentially allow someone to take control of another Dark Souls player's PC. To prevent that from happening, Bandai Namco and FromSoftware shut down online servers for all four games on January 23. A statement a couple of weeks later claimed that "online services for the Dark Souls series on PC will not resume until after the release of Elden Ring," but the wait ended up being much longer than expected.
Dark Souls 3 servers weren't back online until August, over seven months after the initial shutdown, while Dark Souls 2's online functionality wasn't restored until October. Now, Dark Souls Remastered's online features are finally live again, so PC players can leave messages, summon their friends, or invade other players' worlds again. Unfortunately, one version of the original Dark Souls on PC won't get its online features back. 
https://twitter.com/DarkSoulsGame/status/1590286846465933312
In October, Bandai Namco Entertainment and FromSoftware confirmed that online functionality for Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition (the original PC release) will never be restored. "We have determined that we will not be able to support online services for the PC version of Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition that was released in 2012, due to an aging system," a tweet explains. "We apologize for the long wait and ask for your understanding in this matter. Our sincere thanks to the people who have been playing Dark Souls since its launch."
Regardless, Dark Souls fans can take solace in the fact that the wait is finally over, and versions of all 3 Dark Souls games can be played online on PC again. 

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Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is the right Soulslike for a post-Elden Ring world
Nor prepares to fast travel in Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is one of the most exciting Soulslikes on the horizon in this post-Elden Ring world. While it’s hard for games in that genre to impress in the wake of FromSoftware’s mighty open-world adventure, Flintlock hopes to stand out with its unique “gunpowder fantasy” aesthetic that trades high fantasy for the titular flintlock pistol and other early technology.
“We definitely consider Flintlock to be a Soulslike, and there are plenty of inspirations from Elden Ring,” Game Director Hayden Asplet explained in a press event.
Digital Trends got a hands-off look at around 15 minutes of new footage from the game and spoke to the developers about their ambition for this gunpowder fantasy Soulslike. While Art Director Robert Bruce made it clear that Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn’s gunpowder fantasy is “unique and its own thing,” he also said that “when we come out, I think that players will be ready for that next Elden Ring experience and we’ll have a lot of that there for them.”

Flintlock Fantasy
The portion I saw started at a caravan where protagonist Nor and her magical fox-like companion Enki can speak to NPCs and upgrade and craft items. Before long, she was on a quest to investigate a nearby keep. From the immediate first glance, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn’s unique aesthetic and setting are noticeable. It doesn’t quite feel like it is set during the renaissance or in a steampunk world, but technology -- mostly powered by gunpowder -- is slowly starting to creep its way into more and more things.
Some factions resist this change, while others like Nor embrace it on their personal quest to take down the gods. This even bleeds over into movement, as Nor can even use explosive black powder to do a double-jump flip in the air and occasionally dash to certain areas with Enki. That gives Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn some platforming elements, as players can use those techniques to find secret items that help in the adventure.
Soon enough, Nor and Enki found themselves in combat against some enemies. Nor smoothly flowed from enemy to enemy with decisive axe strikes and well-timed and powerful gunshots. Enki occasionally helped out with some magical attacks that exposed enemies to further attacks, too. Combat seems like it will constantly feel fresh thanks to each tool and how they interact with one another. Guns are powerful and getting kills with them increases Nor's armor, but bullets can only be gained by killing enemies with the axe. As such, it’s clear that players can’t spam moves if they want the best results in a fight.

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Dark Souls 3 PC servers are back online, other titles still to come
twitch streamer dark souls 3 dance pad knight

After being shut down due to a malicious exploit, the multiplayer servers for Dark Souls 3 on PC have been brought back online. Servers for the first two Dark Souls games are still offline, but FromSoftware reaffirmed its efforts to restore them.

https://twitter.com/DarkSoulsGame/status/1562718968086872064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1562718968086872064%7Ctwgr%5E00a52db73a3fc959ea51f1ff33eac46fb647d48e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.videogameschronicle.com%2Fnews%2Fdark-souls-3s-pc-servers-have-been-brought-back-online-after-7-months%2F

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