Enlarge / There's a lot of meaning in this image for studied fans of Elden Ring , but confirmation will have to wait until June. (credit: Bandai Namco)

A gameplay reveal trailer for a heavily anticipated expansion to Elden Ring has arrived , and it suggests that more of the big bosses, cryptic but epic-scale storytelling, and brutal combat fans have come to expect will be available in the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. The downloadable content arrives June 21, 2024, and costs $40; preorders are available now ( Steam , PlayStation , Xbox ).

Shadow of the Erdtree takes place in "The Land of Shadow," seemingly a kind of prequel setting to the main Elden Ring, potentially inside a deity's dreams. You can never be too sure, but the presence of certain characters, and the suggestion that you will access the new content by touching the arm of a major but previously unexplored character, suggests you will be traveling through their memories, their dreams, or some combination thereof. The very first image you see is of a player character riding up to a cliff and seeing a flaming tree—perhaps not the Erdtree central to the main game, but a precursor of it that is hinted at in the game's lore.

Gameplay-wise, there are many new things to notice, including hand-to-hand combat, far more powerful crossbows, new spells and weapons, and a whole host of large, epically detailed, seemingly unfair boss battles.

Enlarge / Let's put aside the Greater Will and Golden Order for a moment and absolutely clobber one another. (credit: Bandai Namco)

Elden Ring 's map is huge and feature-packed, but it has a trio of notable colosseum-sized holes in it. As of tomorrow, those holes will be filled with a free multiplayer-focused DLC, aptly named "Colosseum Update."

The colosseums of the Lands Between have long been considered the most likely site of duel-centered DLC, as they are large, locked off to (non-modded) players, hinted at in the game lore, and the subject of some intriguing file names and alternate assets and textures . With the December 7 update, the sites in Limgrave, Leyndell, and Caelid will offer "duels, free-for-alls, and team fights," publisher Bandai Namco announced today .

The trailer says that version 1.08 will let players "join forces to fight for the Elden Ring" and shows three player characters—two of them shaded the light red typical of multiplayer summons and invasions—wandering the landscape, fighting a dragon, and finally opening the doors to a long-locked colosseum. "Then battle for glory in new PvP modes," the trailer reads, before showing battle scenes between two players, players plus their Spirit Ash summons, and then a three-on-three melee.

Enlarge / Two views of a Dwarf Fortress scene, in the original graphics and in the upcoming Steam/Itch.io release. (credit: Kitfox Games / Kevin Purdy)

The version of Dwarf Fortress that looks and sounds more like a game than a DOS-era driver glitch will be unearthed on December 6, the creators and its publisher announced Tuesday .

There's a trailer , a $30 price, and, should things go as planned, versions for Steam and Itch.io arriving that day. Buying these editions gets you a version with graphics, music, an improved UI and keyboard shortcuts, and—perhaps most importantly—a tutorial . It also supports the brothers who have worked on the game for more than 16 years, offering it for free and subsisting on donations. That free version of the game, ASCII graphics and all, will remain available.

You can see the difference in looks in the release trailer :