Elden Ring's average playtime is nearly two days long on Steam

It seems people are really into Elden Ring. At least, that’s what the average playtime statistics show.

Not that the ludicrous critical acclaim, record-breaking viewership on streaming platforms, and staggering sales numbers didn’t prove Elden Ring’s success already. However, the free Chrome extension Steam Augmented reveals some interesting tidbits about Elden Ring on PC.

Elden Ring’s average playtime on PC as of March 11, 2022, is 47 hours and 36 minutes — yes, almost two full days. Those numbers take into account everyone’s total playtime on Steam, shocking when you remember the game has been out for barely two weeks. Resident Evil 2, another mega-hit from several years ago, only averages 22 hours and 24 minutes of playtime.

First off, it’s incredibly impressive to see that many people spend that much time with a game like Elden Ring. Yes, Elden Ring does offer a kind of multiplayer component, but it’s not the kind of traditional online multiplayer experience that typically commands triple-digit playtimes. It’s a largely single-player open-world experience that, as you’ve probably heard, is quite difficult. Indeed, some of Elden Ring‘s toughest challenges can be found during the game’s earliest hours. It’s one thing for a lot of fans to buy into the hype and give the game a shot and quite another thing for so many to stick with the title even while facing an uphill battle.

Generally speaking, one can imagine spending anywhere from 60 to 80 hours while working through the Elden Ring campaign. Unfortunately or not, it seems a bit difficult to refine the numbers anywhere beyond that threshold for now. That may change as hungry Souls fans devour every last morsel the game offers, but for now, the experience appears too challenging to definitively pin down.

To be honest, I don’t know if we’re going to see more developers pursue Elden Ring-like experiences in the near future. The game has already proven to be somewhat divisive in the industry, and it’s not exactly easy to copy some of the things it does so well. What I can tell you is that Elden Ring has clearly tapped into something that can’t be ignored. Now, we have to wait and see whether or not any developer other than FromSoftware will find a way to capitalize on that special something in their own ways.

Elden Ring is an action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The game was directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki and made in collaboration with fantasy novelist George R. R. Martin, who provided material for the game's setting. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on February 25, 2022.