In late August, FromSoftware studio and publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment returned to Elden Ring: they presented the complete edition of the game for Switch. On other platforms, the premium Tarnished Pack add-on was released, which included two new starting classes, new armor, and a function to customize the appearance of the mount Torrent (Stream).
The Tarnished Pack add-on received "mixed" reviews on Steam, with its rating dropping below 50%. Players are unhappy that FromSoftware "became a mainstream company, and then in less than half a decade turned into a Bethesda clone."
Community members, like SVA, consider such DLC a microtransaction and fear that eventually the studio's games will become pay-to-win:
This is not an add-on, it's a microtransaction. Even if it included a million pieces of armor and weapons and sold for pennies – it would be garbage. At best, it pollutes a decent game with paid cosmetic elements, at worst, it turns it into "pay to win" since armor and weapons have a tangible impact on gameplay.
Some dissatisfied users went to leave negative reviews for the main Elden Ring – they cite simply the name of the Tarnished Pack add-on or write about premium "horse armor" as the reason. However, the flow of such negative reviews was not particularly large, so recent reviews still remain in the "very positive" category.