Developer FromSoftware shut down online servers for Dark Souls II and Dark Souls III unexpectedly on October 30. The sudden outage hit PC, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms at the same time, cutting users off from core multiplayer mechanics. An unspecified server issue caused the problem, according to the studio, which has not shared a timeline for bringing the services back. Because of this, fans cannot participate in cooperative summoning or PvP invasions, while bloodstains, wandering phantoms, and player messages are completely offline.

Single-player campaigns for both titles remain completely functional, allowing users to play offline until the servers return. Dark Souls Remastered and Elden Ring escape this outage entirely. Still, the sudden shutdown makes players suspicious because the company recently delayed a project called The Duskbloods following a poor network test, leaving fans to question if the two incidents connect.

Back in January 2022, a major security flaw forced the developer to turn off PC multiplayer servers for months. The studio did not point to new security risks for this current outage. PC users can use unofficial mods created by community developer Yui that bypass official servers to offer shared progression and remove summoning limits, but console users have no workarounds and must wait for official updates.