Dark Souls 3’s PC servers are back offline despite being restored by FromSoftware just four weeks ago.
The Dark Souls Twitter account announced the news (below), saying that the Steam servers were down once again. No explanation of what the issue is or how long it will be an issue were given, but the developer did say it was actively investigating and trying to solve the problem.
“At this time, there is a confirmed issue with Dark Souls 3 online play via the Steam platform,” FromSoftware said. “We are investigating the source of the problem and will inform you as soon as more details become available.”
At this time, there is a confirmed issue with DARK SOULS III online play via the Steam platform.
We are investigating the source of the problem and will inform you as soon as more details become available.
Thank you for your patience. #DarkSouls
— Dark Souls (@DarkSoulsGame) September 21, 2022
Fans were also thanked for their patience but, given the regularity of online problems encountered in the Dark Souls series, it’s perhaps not surprising that the replies and retweets to FromSoftware’s announcement were full of complaints.
Before being brought back online four weeks ago, the Dark Souls 3 servers had been down for eight months. The servers were first taken down after an exploit was discovered that allowed other players to take over the user’s PC, and FromSoftware has been releasing incremental updates ever since as it worked to bring back its games’ online features.
There’s nothing to suggest that the current server issue is related to this exploit, but the original Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2 are both still offline as a result of the same issue.
The exploit was discovered just a month before FromSoftware released Elden Ring, causing fans looking forward to the game to grow worried it would affect its multiplayer components. Thankfully, however, Elden Ring was able to launch without major issues and became an incredible success.
It did have to deal with a few hacking issues though, after an infamous Dark Souls hacker appeared in Elden Ring and forced illegal items into players’ inventories, causing them to be banned. Even weirder, the game’s secret underwear was also being used by trolls to get other players banned.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.