As dataminer and streamer Lance McDonald shared on Twitter, menu strings were found (by sennoutantei) relating to ray tracing features. What’s more, references have been found to two new maps that don’t yet exist in the game. McDonald has since attempted to implement those ray-tracing features by bumping the quality to maximum, but they somewhat break the visuals.
At launch, the PC version of Elden Ring was criticised for running poorly, so it could be that FromSoftware is looking to improve the visuals in future. As for the maps, dataminer Sekiro Dubi shared that the map names are M20 and M45. M20 seems to follow the numbering of existing legacy dungeons in the game (M10 is Stormveil, M11 Leyndell, M19 is stone platform), while M45 would be new. Previously, fans have speculated that DLC may take place in the empty coliseums found around the map, but surely these would already exist in game rather than being brand new? Other references to DLC specifically have been found in the code, as shared on reddit, though no specific details have been revealed. None of this is concrete, then, but it’s clear that FromSoftware is preparing to make big additions to the game in this patch, beyond the balance adjustments and PvP changes that headlined the update.
