Mobile ports of games that originally launched on consoles and PCs have become increasingly common in recent years. Last fall, Apple announced that Resident Evil Village, Death Stranding, and Assassin’s Creed Mirage were coming to the App Store for the iPhone 15. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. A new report claims one of the biggest games of the decade is coming to phones as well, as Tencent is reportedly working on a mobile version of Elden Ring.
Elden Ring is the 2022 open-world action RPG from FromSoftware, the studio behind the Dark Souls and Armored Core series. Not only did Elden Ring receive hundreds of Game of the Year awards, but it was also the second best-selling game of 2022.
This week, Reuters reported that Chinese conglomerate Tencent is working on adapting the hit video game into a mobile title. Tencent acquired the licensing rights to the game in 2022, bought a 16% share in the Japanese game studio, and then put together a team of a few dozen people to build a prototype of the mobile version.
It’s unclear why Tencent has yet to announce its plans, but Reuters’ sources claim that progress on the mobile port has been slow up to this point.
While getting Elden Ring running on mobile devices is undoubtedly hard work, the real challenge might be reworking the game to fit Tencent’s business model.
Elden Ring is a premium game without any microtransactions, battle passes, or paid cosmetics. Once you pay for the game, you have access to everything in it. According to the report, Tencent wants its mobile version to be free-to-play with in-app purchases instead, similar to mobile game sensations like Genshin Impact or Candy Crush Saga.
This might not be a popular decision, but it could certainly be a cash cow for Tencent. The report notes that Tencent is looking for its next PUBG Mobile, which continues to rake in cash but has yet to be matched by any of the company’s other releases.
Meanwhile, whether or not Elden Ring Mobile ever sees the light of day, fans are still anxiously awaiting more news about the upcoming Elden Ring expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree. It was announced back in February 2023, but still doesn’t have a release date.
