Elden Ring Switch 2 Would Officially Be An Instant Buy With One Crucial New Feature

I am ready to purchase Elden Ring again at full price if FromSoftware adds a single new feature: cross-progression. I already bought Elden Ring on its initial release day, and have played more than my fill of what I consider one of the best games ever made, but being able to play it in handheld mode on Switch 2 sounds great. I’d rather wait for a sale, though, if my only option is to start yet another new character.

Elden Ring is one of the few games I regularly return to after extended breaks. I have not uninstalled it from my PS5 since 2022, and I often boot it up just to play some co-op with strangers or complete a mini-dungeon or two. Maybe if I hadn’t played it since my first playthough, a day-one purchase of the upcoming Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition would be a given, but I really just want it as a second platform to continue my current playthroughs.

Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition Would Be Perfect With Cross-Progression

There is a lot of trepidation surrounding the Tarnished Edition given its reportedly poor technical state on Switch 2. It’s sadly not surprising in the least; Elden Ring‘s biggest shortcoming is that its performance on other platforms is spotty at best. Optimization has long been an issue for FromSoftware’s RPGs—I remember playing Bloodborne on release day and suffering through minutes-long loading screens after each death.

But I’m hopeful that Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition‘s indefinite delay is a good sign for FromSoftware’s performance ambitions. I also suspect that I’m not alone in the sentiment that it simply being a good port is not enough for me to double-dip. FromSoftware might see a brand-new audience for Elden Ring, but I’m confident that there are many like me keeping their eye on the Tarnished Edition as a potentially second chance to purchase the game.

My most recent Elden Ring character has something like 40 hours under its belt. I play a lot of co-op and still love to take my time exploring the Lands Between. I just don’t have any interest in starting a new character right now; I just played the early game areas relatively recently. That’s not FromSoftware’s fault, but it really shouldn’t be a dilemma in the first place.

Cross-Progression Isn’t Likely

The only form of cross-progression that exists in current versions of Elden Ring is between console generations; i.e., a PS4 save will transfer to the PS5 version. This is also how Elden Ring‘s multiplayer matchmaking works—there’s no true crossplay. I find it hard to believe FromSoftware is going to change this with the Tarnished Edition. The bonus Tarnished Edition items will come to all versions of Elden Ring, but it seems unlikely a transformative change like cross-progression would be added so long after release.

Crossplay doesn’t even exist in Elden Ring Nightreign, which is three years newer. I know it’s a very specific caveat, but not being able to continue my in-progress playthroughs on Switch 2 would be a deal-breaker. Elden Ring‘s performance issues on Switch 2 are a much bigger problem, though, so it seems the best I should hope for at this point is nothing more than a stable port.