Back in January, Bandai Namco elected to shut down the multiplayer servers for all the Dark Souls games on Steam due to security concerns and hacking exploits. The assumption was that the servers would return once these issues were resolved and it would be safe again. However, Bandai Namco has been completely quiet about its progress on the situation, and now some are worried that the servers aren’t coming back at all.
As spotted by The OuterHaven, the Dark Souls games’ listings on Steam have been updated and no longer mention online co-op or online PvP in the categories section. This applies to Dark Souls Remastered, Dark Souls 2, and Dark Souls 3, which are now categorized as single-player-only titles. However, their descriptions still make mention of online functionality.
It’s possible that this is only a temporary measure until the servers are up and running again. With online multiplayer not possible at the moment, perhaps Bandai Namco wants to avoid falsely advertising to potential new players. However, Bandai Namco’s complete lack of communication with players means it’s difficult to tell what it’s thinking.
The company could possibly be considering not maintaining the Dark Souls servers anymore and disabling them permanently, especially with Elden Ring being so popular at the moment. Although this would most certainly result in a backlash from players, it could make financial sense. For the time being, the servers for the console versions of the games continue to operate.
