The most recent update for The Elden Ring was just released a week ago, and it seems to have references to upcoming visual features and possible DLC. A dataminer and streamer by the name of Lance McDonald identified menu strings that were connected to ray tracing capabilities, and he publicized them on Twitter.
In addition to this, clues have been uncovered that point to the existence of two other maps that are not currently included in the game. Since then, McDonald has made an effort to include such ray-tracing elements by increasing the quality to its highest setting; nonetheless, this has resulted in some visual issues. Since the PC version of Elden Ring was criticized for having poor performance when it was first released, it is possible that FromSoftware is planning to improve the aesthetics in a later update.
Looks like it falls-back to non-raytracing after a certain distance in wide open areas. pic.twitter.com/uuLC4PRBf2
— Lance McDonald (@manfightdragon) October 14, 2022
Dataminer Sekiro Dubi revealed that the names of the maps are M20 and M45. This information relates to the maps. It would appear that M20 follows the same numbering scheme as the game’s other legacy dungeons. Fans have previously theorized that downloadable content (DLC) could take place in the vacant coliseums scattered over the game’s world, but surely they would already be present in the game rather than being fresh new additions?
The new maps are m20, and m45…
m20 has same numbering as Legacy dungeons, m45 is brand new…
Dynamic Loading Casting
credit to @MagicalShion for finding those ones https://t.co/dEZsKJKEOy
— Sekiro Dubi (@sekirodubi) October 13, 2022
Other references to DLC specifically have been discovered in the code, and this information has been posted on reddit; however, particular specifics have not been disclosed. Therefore, none of this can be considered definitive, but it is quite evident that FromSoftware intends to make significant additions to the game via this update.