Elden Ring mobile game with Genshin Impact like microtransactions reportedly coming

A new rumor states that Tencent is developing a mobile version of Elden Ring with a different approach to monetization than the original game.

The action RPGs produced by FromSoftware, including Elden Ring, feel like the furthest thing away from being appropriate fits for mobile devices. They are extremely dark, violent, rely on environmental storytelling, and don’t fit the gacha format.

More importantly, the tight controls needed to survive the hardest bosses in Elden Ring would be nearly impossible to emulate on a phone’s touchscreen. Sure, there are mobile controllers, but that means cutting down the prospective audience by a huge amount.

These issues may not have slowed down Chinese gaming giant Tencent, as a new rumor states that Elden Ring could be coming to the smaller screen with a style evoking the success of Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail.

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Elden Ring Mobile is rumored to be in development

A new rumor reported by Reuters states that Tencent is working on a mobile version of Elden Ring, which started shortly after the company bought a 16% stake in FromSoftware, with a prototype in the works, despite slow progress on its build.

It seems that the game will be different from the original version of Elden Ring, mostly due to its monetization practices. According to Reuters, Elden Ring’s mobile version will use in-app purchases rather than a one-time payment.

It’s unclear whether this mobile game is a straight adaptation of Elden Ring to mobile devices or whether it will be some chopped-up attempt at mimicking the formula codified by Genshin Impact.

The control issue is a major one, as a key part of Elden Ring’s appeal is its incredible combat system. This will be incredibly difficult to emulate on mobile devices. Also, the punishing difficulty will be off-putting to a lot of the casual market that mobile games appeal to.

Elden Ring may form the foundation for a new type of mobile game that reuses many of the assets from the original title rather than trying to adapt it with some gacha mechanics thrown in.

Fans are eager to return to the world of Elden Ring, but this cursed wish from the monkey’s paw is the farthest thing from what they wanted. There’s a lot of scope for returning to the setting, but not so much on the tiny screen of a mobile phone.