An Elden Ring dataminer has managed to get the game’s inaccessible colosseum content actually working.
Back in March, Souls game hacker Lance McDonald managed to look around the game’s locked colosseum locations, speculating that they’d be used for DLC. Now, YouTuber Sekiro Dubi has uploaded a video that seemingly reveals the colosseum’s hidden Sites of Grace, location names, and even battling NPCs.
Sekiro Dubi used a map editor called DSMapStudio to effectively break into the colosseum in the Leyndell area, see what was cut, and then piece it all back together, revealing that developer FromSoftware seemingly intended it to be used for actual gladiator fights.
So remember the Elden Ring “possible DLC” Colosseum I made a tiny video about a while ago? Sekiro Dubi got it ‘working’, it doesn’t seem to be DLC, it’s some weird cut content where there were big enemies inside fighting each-other? He made a whole video https://t.co/BynoC8SRsu
— Lance McDonald (@manfightdragon) April 23, 2022
The video shows a giant lion fighting a knight in the colosseum, whose placeholder names were simply listed as “Old Lion of Arena” and “Gladiator Large” respectively.
Sekiro Dubi also uncovers a nameless Site of Grace inside the area, and digging through Elden Ring’s Network Test files reveals a Stormveil Colosseum, meaning this one would likely just be Leyndell Colosseum.
A second, unfinished Site of Grace can be found further inside the area that was named internally (and therefore unofficially) as “Return point Bonfire Reception desk”, with Bonfires being the Dark Souls equivalent of a Site of Grace.
Despite the new information, it’s still unclear if the colosseums spread across Elden Ring’s world are an abandoned portion of the game that simply didn’t make the final cut or if they’re early versions of a potential DLC.
The Limgrave Colosseum is guarded by an NPC invader and another NPC sitting outside asks why they can’t get in. The Ritual Shield Talisman available outside the Leyndell Colosseum states the arenas are remains of a bygone era, showing that FromSoftware definitely had a story for them in mind.
DLC that takes the player back in time is also a completely common part of FromSoftware games. The original Dark Souls does exactly that in the Artorias of the Abyss DLC, Bloodborne follows suit with The Old Hunters, and though not DLC, Sekiro also features extensive sections that are set in the past.
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In our 10/10 review, IGN said: “Elden Ring is a massive iteration on what FromSoftware began with the Souls series, bringing its relentlessly challenging combat to an incredible open world that gives us the freedom to choose our own path.”
To make those choices with the best available information, check out our guide that features everything you could ever hope to know about Elden Ring, including collectible locations, boss strategies, and more.
