Elden Ring Patched to Close Free DLC Duplication Exploit

FromSoftware has issued an emergency fix for Elden Ring after players found a way to duplicate paid DLC items in multiplayer and hand them out to anyone who had not purchased the add-on, effectively making the new Tarnished Pack free for anyone willing to exploit the bug.

What Happened

The exploit surfaced shortly after FromSoftware launched its $5 / £4 Tarnished Pack to coincide with the release of Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition on Nintendo Switch 2. The pack, which was made available across all platforms, includes two new starting classes called Idus Knight and Heavy Knight, additional armor sets and weapons, and new skins for the horse mount Torrent.

As Eurogamer reports, the glitch worked when a player who owned the DLC joined the session of someone who did not, then dropped the items on the ground for the other person to pick up. Because the dropped items did not leave the original owner’s inventory, both players ended up holding copies of the same exclusive content, letting the Tarnished Pack spread without any additional purchases.

FromSoftware’s Response

Patch 1.17.1 arrived on Tuesday, September 8th across all platforms. According to Eurogamer, FromSoftware stated on X that the update “fixes an issue in multiplayer where, under specific conditions, DLC-specific items could be obtained when not normally eligible,” and that no additional content was included in the patch.

Importantly, the fix did not lock down item trading across the board. Players can still drop and share DLC-exclusive weapons and armor with others, but the patch now ensures those items are correctly removed from the original player’s inventory when traded, eliminating the duplication angle.

Rock Paper Shotgun notes that the Tarnished Pack represents FromSoftware’s first foray into cosmetic and class-based paid DLC of this kind, drawing comparisons to the infamous horse armor debate that has followed the games industry for years.

Tarnished Pack at a Glance

Switch 2 Port Context

The Tarnished Edition launch on Switch 2 has drawn attention beyond the exploit. Eurogamer‘s reviewer Kelsey Raynor noted that FromSoftware did a commendable job bringing the sprawling open-world RPG to Nintendo’s hardware, though performance on the console is not entirely without issues.

Sources: Eurogamer, Rock Paper Shotgun