As reported by Eurogamer, FromSoftware has shut down multiplayer (invasions, co-op, messages) in Dark Souls 2 and 3 for an indeterminate amount of time due to an undisclosed "server issue." The company shared the news in an October 30 post on X, "The Everything App."
The closure affects all platforms for each respective game, and the company said that it would provide an updated timeline for server restoration once it had more information. This isn't the first time something like this has happened with FromSoftware's back catalogue. In early 2022, on the eve of Elden Ring's release, a catastrophic remote code execution vulnerability was discovered in all of the Dark Souls games. That resulted in PC servers for the series getting shut down for months.
But there are key differences here: It's only Dark Souls 2 and 3 this time around, while the issue extends to all platforms, not just PC. That gives me some hope that this issue is not only less serious, but it will take less time to resolve as well.
It honestly couldn't have happened at a better time for PC players, though: Legend modder Yui's Seamless co-op series runs on its own servers, separate from the official FromSoft ones, meaning the party's still going if you download the mod and play that way. Dark Souls 2 finally got the Seamless co-op treatment at the end of September (Dark Souls 3 has been covered for awhile).
As its name implies, Seamless Co-op makes it easier to play through the entirety of these games together with a friend or friends, offering shared progress and no disconnects on death or defeat of a boss. I've been loving Dark Souls 2 Seamless Co-op alongside my PC Gamer colleagues Tyler Colp and Sean Martin.
