Dark Souls 2 and 3 Servers Go Offline Across All Platforms

FromSoftware’s Dark Souls 2 and Dark Souls 3 servers are temporarily unavailable across all platforms, interrupting their online features with no restoration estimate yet. For players in the middle of co-op runs, the effect is immediate: those sessions will have to wait. The outage also means players can’t count on the games’ online services until the developer provides an update.

What the outage means for players

Both games have built communities around shared play, so server downtime reaches beyond matchmaking. Online features can shape how players approach an area, whether they’re coordinating with a partner or engaging with other players. With the servers unavailable, those parts of the experience are out of reach for now. The games’ offline content remains a separate matter, but the announcement doesn’t explain which specific online functions are affected.

That distinction matters. A temporary outage doesn’t tell players whether the issue is limited to one service or affects every online feature in the same way. FromSoftware hasn’t offered that detail, and there’s no basis yet to infer a cause or scope beyond the two named games and all platforms.

No timetable, only a promise of updates

The developer attributed the outage to a “server issue” and said it would share a restoration time once more information is available. Its statement calls the downtime temporary, but gives no timetable. That leaves players with little to go on beyond FromSoftware’s promise of further updates.

Here’s the thing: “temporary” describes intent, not duration. Players can’t plan around a service returning soon when no estimate has been supplied, and the statement doesn’t say whether restoration will happen in stages. For now, the practical choice is to check for updates before arranging online sessions.

The numbers here are underwhelming: two games are named, and no timing or technical explanation accompanies the notice. That’s enough to establish which services are affected, but not enough to explain what happened. (And this is the part most people overlook: even a short notice can leave players unsure whether to retry later or make other plans.)

Elden Ring remains available

The outage doesn’t include Elden Ring, FromSoftware’s latest Souls-like game. Its single-player and online options remain available, so players looking for another FromSoftware game can still access those features. If you’re working through the studio’s catalogue, that’s a useful distinction, though it doesn’t restore access to the older games’ online communities.

Readers looking for details can revisit our reviews of the base game and Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. Elden Ring Nightreign offers three-player co-op in a rogue-lite format; our coverage also includes the game and its DLC, The Forsaken Hollows. These are options for players seeking other ways to play, though they’re distinct releases with different formats and features.

What comes next for FromSoftware players

Those games may fill the gap while players wait for The Duskbloods, which was pushed from 2026 to 2027 after FromSoftware incorporated feedback from a recent closed beta. The studio hasn’t announced a narrower release window or said whether another beta is planned. That makes it a distant alternative, not an immediate substitute for players trying to return to a Dark Souls session.

This is more significant than it looks for players whose enjoyment depends on shared play: a server notice can pause a familiar routine without changing anything about the games themselves. And yet the available information remains narrow. The studio hasn’t said what caused the issue, when service will return, or whether it will post updates on a particular schedule. For now, the clearest next step for Dark Souls players is to watch for the promised server update.

For anyone waiting to resume a co-op run, there’s no useful workaround in the announcement. Just a pause, with the timing still unknown.