It's not a subject that anybody has brought up until now because it's been one of the most enjoyable and popular games. Was Elden Ring's success a fluke?

Brian X Chen wrote a recent article regarding the game, claiming that if it wasn't for the pandemic, Elden Ring would have just been a regular game and had nowhere near the success it's enjoying now. 

"None of the aspects of Elden Ring stand out as pleasing to the audience, yet the game – a collaboration between the creative director Hidetaka Miyazaki and the author of Game of Thrones, George RR Martin – aims to become the best seller of the year with 12 million copies sold in the month of its debut, "writes Brian X. Chen.

"It's hard to imagine how Elden Ring could achieve this sort of cultural footprint at any other time in history. In the third year of the pandemic, as vaccinations increase and hospitalization cases decrease in some areas."

 

 

The article received so much criticism not only on social media, but Gene Park wrote a piece the next day for the Washington Post downplaying Chen's claims and pointing out how the game's top qualities would have made it successful during any period. 

"No, the success of Elden Ring did not come as a surprise and it certainly has nothing to do with quarantine, lockdowns or the existential malaise caused by the pandemic," wrote Park.

"This success depends rather on how the developers have worked to improve their formula over the past eleven years, a formula that when it engages undeniably conquers players. Elden Ring is a triumph, a milestone for the gaming industry: for this reason we have to thank the people who created it and those who played with it, not the circumstances. "

What do you think of these two points of view regarding Elden Ring's success?