Dark Souls 3 Servers: Status, Shutdown and What Works

As of 6 November 2026, the Dark Souls III servers are offline on every platform: PC, PlayStation and Xbox. FromSoftware suspended online services for Dark Souls II and Dark Souls III on October 30, 2026, then said in a follow-up notice that the shutdown was due to detected security vulnerabilities, with no return date. The single-player game still works offline, but summons, invasions and player messages are unavailable until the servers come back.

We pieced this together from FromSoftware's notices as reported by games.gg, iXBT Games, GameLuster and Fextralife's news desk, plus Video Games Chronicle, Game Developer and PCGamesN coverage of the 2022 outage, all checked in November 2026. We will not guess at a return date; nobody outside FromSoftware has one.

Where Things Stand in November 2026

The timeline so far is short. According to games.gg, online play for both games has been suspended on all platforms since 7am GMT on October 30, 2026, which is 4pm in Japan. FromSoftware's support account on X posted at 8:45am GMT that "the game servers for the following titles will be temporarily unavailable on all platforms," and described the cause only as a server issue.

A few days later, on November 2, a notice on the Japanese Dark Souls series site gave a reason: identified security vulnerabilities. It listed the end of the suspension as "until further notice." iXBT Games, translating the statement, reported the same wording: operations were temporarily suspended on all platforms due to detected security vulnerabilities, with no estimate of how long the work will take. Fans suspect a remote code execution flaw like the one in 2022, but FromSoftware has not confirmed any technical detail.

As of the most recent reports we found, dated November 3 and 4, there was no restoration announcement. If you are reading this later in November, check FromSoftware's official channels before assuming anything has changed in either direction.

What Still Works and What Does Not

The notice itself states that offline play is still possible, so you can load your save, explore, level up and beat every boss. What is gone, according to games.gg's breakdown, is everything that touches other players:

• Summoning other players for help with bosses.
• Being summoned into someone else's world.
• Invasions, both sending and receiving.
• Messages and bloodstains left by other players.

For most players that changes the feel of the game more than its function. The world is quieter without messages and phantoms, and a few bosses that people usually cheese with summons now have to be learned the hard way. Our list of every Dark Souls 3 boss with locations flags which optional fights are worth tackling while you are playing solo.

Online-focused goals are on hold. Covenant progress that depends on PvP or co-op cannot advance right now, and any build you were tuning for invasions or arena-style duels will have to wait for service to return before it sees another player.

What Happened in 2022

This is not the first time. In January 2022, Bandai Namco deactivated the PC online services for Dark Souls Remastered, Dark Souls II and Dark Souls III after a severe remote code execution vulnerability was discovered, one that reportedly let attackers take control of other players' computers. That outage only affected PC; console servers stayed up throughout.

The return was slow and staggered. Dark Souls III came back first on August 25, 2022, about seven months later. Video Games Chronicle reported at the time that Bandai Namco was still "working to restore these features for all other Dark Souls titles." Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin followed on October 25, 2022, and Dark Souls Remastered on November 9, 2022, roughly 290 days after the shutdown. games.gg counts Dark Souls III's downtime at 214 days and Scholar of the First Sin's at 275.

One version never came back: the original Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition on PC. PCGamesN reported that its servers "are never coming back," which is why Remastered is the only PC version of the first game with online play today.

The 2022 precedent tells you two things about the current outage. FromSoftware has fixed this kind of problem before and restored service, and it took months rather than days when a serious vulnerability was involved. Neither point is a prediction; the current notice gives no timeline at all.

The Full Timeline, 2022 to Now

Laid out in one place, the dates show how the series' online history has unfolded on each platform:

• January 2022: PC online services for Dark Souls Remastered, Dark Souls II and Dark Souls III are switched off after the remote code execution vulnerability is found.
• August 25, 2022: Dark Souls III on PC comes back online first.
• October 25, 2022: Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin on PC returns.
• November 9, 2022: Dark Souls Remastered on PC returns. The original Prepare to Die Edition stays offline for good.
• March 31, 2024: The PS3 and Xbox 360 servers for Dark Souls II close permanently.
• October 30, 2026: Online services for Dark Souls II and Dark Souls III are suspended on all platforms.
• November 2, 2026: A follow-up notice cites identified security vulnerabilities and lists the suspension as lasting until further notice.

What stands out is the scope. The 2022 problem was confined to PC, so console players kept their summons and invasions the whole time. This time PlayStation and Xbox players are offline too, which makes it the widest outage the trilogy has had since launch.

Which Other Games Are Affected

The current suspension names Dark Souls II and Dark Souls III. GameLuster's report confirms it covers PC, PlayStation and Xbox for both games, and that both remain playable offline. Dark Souls Remastered and Elden Ring are not named in the notice, so their online modes are not part of this suspension, though FromSoftware has not detailed the full scope.

Dark Souls II has an extra wrinkle. The original release on PS3 and Xbox 360 lost its online features for good on March 31, 2024, when Bandai Namco and FromSoftware closed those servers. The current suspension affects the versions that were still online, including Scholar of the First Sin. Our guide to Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin covers that edition's online history in more detail.

Because Dark Souls Remastered is not part of this outage, its covenants and co-op still work as normal. If you were planning a trilogy run, now is a sensible time to play the first game; our Dark Souls games in order guide explains why it is the best starting point anyway.

Making the Most of Offline Dark Souls III

Playing offline is how many people first experienced these games, and it works fine with a few adjustments.

• Use the Storm Ruler. Yhorm the Giant is designed around the sword in his arena, and its weapon art does heavy damage to him whether or not anyone else is there.
• Finish Siegward's quest. If you complete it, he joins the Yhorm fight as an NPC with his own Storm Ruler.
• Take the optional bosses later. The Nameless King and the Ringed City bosses are much harder without summons, so save them until your build is well upgraded.
• Explore more carefully. Without player messages, nobody is pointing out hidden walls, ambushes or shortcuts, so a slower pace through new areas pays off.

It is also a good moment to collect anything that does not need the internet: the offline covenant joins, the item pickups and the endings. Our Dark Souls covenants guide covers how covenant systems work in the first game, which is useful context for how the third game's versions evolved.

How to Check Whether the Servers Are Back

There is no public status page, so the reliable signals are official ones. FromSoftware posted the original notice through its support account on X, and the follow-up appeared on the Japanese Dark Souls series website, so those two channels are where a restoration notice is most likely to appear first. In-game, the obvious tell is the return of messages and bloodstains on the ground when you load an area.

Be wary of third-party tools or "fixes" that claim to restore online play while the official servers are down. The whole reason for this suspension is a security concern, and connecting through unofficial means is exactly the kind of risk FromSoftware is trying to remove. Waiting for the official all-clear is the sensible move.

Starting Over While You Wait

If the downtime has you thinking about a fresh offline character, the store's Dark Souls III Ultimate Starter Save is one option. Its product page lists all weapons twice, all armor sets, all arrows, all upgrade items and 987,654,321 souls on a starter character, which makes it easy to test builds against the solo bosses.

Bear in mind the limits listed on that page: it covers the PS4 and PS5 versions only, and the game itself is not part of the purchase, so your own copy of Dark Souls III is required. See the Dark Souls III starter save page or the full Dark Souls store section.

Frequently Asked Questions