FromSoftware has switched off the online servers of Dark Souls II and Dark Souls III on every platform, and as of 1 November there is still no date for their return. The studio's player support account posted the notice on X on 30 October at 1:45 AM Pacific time: "Due to a server issue, the game servers for the following titles will be temporarily unavailable on all platforms." It promised an update once the restoration time is known. A Japanese version went up about an hour and 45 minutes earlier and said the same thing.
What stops working
Both games still start, and the campaign can be played alone in offline mode. What is gone is everything that runs through FromSoftware's servers: summoning other players for co-op, invasions and PvP, messages on the ground, bloodstains and the ghosts of other players running past. The statement names only these two games. Elden Ring, Sekiro and Dark Souls Remastered are not mentioned, and FromSoftware has not said what the problem is.
The timing invites guesses. TheGamer links the shutdown to the wave of PHP vulnerabilities found this month, after which The Pokémon Company took several services offline and Capcom pulled Street Fighter V from digital stores and switched off its servers. FromSoftware has confirmed no such link. The Dark Souls II servers had come out of scheduled maintenance only two days earlier.
Why players expect a long wait: 2022
The series has been here before. On 23 January 2022 the PvP servers of Dark Souls III, Dark Souls II and Dark Souls Remastered went down on PC after reports of a remote code execution exploit, a hole that let an attacker take over another player's computer through a PvP session. Dark Souls III came back on 25 August 2022, 214 days later. Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin followed on 25 October after 275 days, Dark Souls Remastered on 9 November after 290, and the 2012 Prepare to Die Edition never got its online back.
There is one difference this time: in 2022 only PC was affected, while now PlayStation and Xbox players are offline too, so far more people are waiting. Until FromSoftware gives a date, the only practical advice is to play offline and keep an eye on the studio's support account.
Sources
FromSoftware player support account on X, English and Japanese notices of 30.10.2026, quoted by Inven Global, 30.10.2026, together with the 2022 dates from the official Dark Souls account. TheGamer, Sam Woods, 30.10.2026: the PHP vulnerabilities, Capcom and The Pokémon Company, the 2022 exploit. Images: official Steam screenshots of Dark Souls III and Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin.
