Here's a 'friendly PSA' for Shadow of the Erdtree: Only 39% of Elden Ring players have beaten the optional boss necessary to reach the DLC

Bandai Namco has a friendly FYI for all the Elden Ring players out there: The big Shadow of the Erdtree expansion arrives on June 20, which is less than two weeks away, and an awful lot of you have work to do before you're ready to take it on.

Minor spoilers follow:

Back in February, Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki said players will access Shadow of the Erdtree through Miquella's cocoon, which is found in the palace of Mohg, Lord of Blood. Naturally, Mohg is not cool with people like you messing with Miquella, so step one of the process is putting the thump on him.

And that's where the problem lies. As streamer Cohh Carnage pointed out, less than 38% of Elden Ring players on Steam have earned the achievement for collecting Mohg's head, which means that nearly two-thirds of you have some work to do before you can access the DLC.

And thus, Bandai's PSA:

Now, this number does bear a little further analysis. First and most obvious, it only represents Steam, so while it's probably a good barometer of the situation across the board, it doesn't accurately reflect how things are going for console players, who may or may not be more conscientious god-killers than us.

It also doesn't mean that two-thirds of Steam players are completely unprepared for the Erdtree expansion. Mohg is an optional boss, meaning it's possible (and actually quite easy) to finish the game without ever running into him. For players who bypassed him on the way to becoming Elden Lord, popping around for some housecleaning in Mohgwyn Palace should be no big deal. I didn't catch up with him until quite late in the game myself, at which point Mohg was a very straightforward deletion courtesy of ye olde Comet Azur.

And of course there will be some portion of players who just haven't got there yet: They started playing last week, or they've really been taking their time with it, or whatever. Give 'em time, they'll get to it when they get to it.

In any event, needing to stomp out Mohg before entering Shadow of the Erdtree really isn't all that unusual. Game expansions typically require that players have made some progress before they become accessible: The brilliant Blood and Wine expansion for The Witcher 3, for example, isn't accessible until you're well into the main storyline. There are exceptions, CD Projekt's other big game among them (you can make a new character and jump straight into Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty if you want), but generally speaking, needing to be knee-deep in Elden Ring's campaign (and more specifically, Mohg's blood and guts) really comes as no surprise.

That said, it's worth being aware: If you want to jump into Shadow of the Erdtree the moment it goes live, you'll want to drop the hammer on Mohg in advance so you can get straight to the good stuff. It's a message that players seem to be internalizing already. Less than 24 hours after Cohh Carnage's tweet, the percentage of Elden Ring players on Steam who have kicked Mohg's ass has already climbed to 38.7%. It almost makes me feel bad for the guy.