Elden Ring was an enormous game, so after two years in the oven, it’s understandable if you’re expecting Shadow of the Erdtree to be enormous in size and scope. To find out how Elden Ring’s first and only expansion compares to the base game, keep reading.
Elden Ring DLC map size, explained
How big is the Land of Shadow?
After spending around 50 hours exploring every nook and cranny of the Land of Shadow, the new map introduced in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, I can confirm it’s around the size of two regions from the base game. Picture Limgrave and Caelid joined together if you want an idea of its raw size.
But the Land of Shadow is so much more than meets the eye. There’s an incredibly diverse array of biomes and multiple layers. It’s impressive how much verticality is built into Shadow of the Erdtree’s design, and you’ll spend a big chunk of your playthrough working out how to get up or down to a location you’ve identified on the map.
How does the Land of Shadow compare to the Lands Between?
The Lands Between is around 30 square miles and had roughly six zones—five above ground, and another underground zone we can count as one. If the Land of Shadow is roughly as big as two regions from the base game, that makes it about a third of the size of the Lands Between, or roughly 10 square miles.
Elden Ring maps side-by-side
Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the playable area of Elden Ring’s maps, roughly the size they appear in-game. The Land of Shadow is about as big as two zones, and it’s just as dense if not denser than the base game. There’s easily enough content to keep you busy for a few dozen hours, and you probably won’t find everything on your first playthrough.
