Elden Ring gets tagged as “Cute” “Casual” “Dating Sim” on Steam

Publication date of the original Japanese article: 2021-08-06 17:17 (JST)
Translated by. Nick Mosier

From Software’s newest title Elden Ring had its Steam page go live on August 6, and in no time at all, the game has been tagged as “cute casual dating sim.” In this article, we want to take a look at the culture of the From Software fandom and Steam features that cause this sort of thing to happen.

*Update 2021/08/19 11:44 JST
Elden Ring‘s Steam store page has since been updated to include tags that are more in line with the actual game (such as “soul-like” “RPG” “Action RPG”).

Just to be clear, Elden Ring is not a dating simulator, but rather an action RPG. The developer, From Software, is known for making the Dark Souls series and other titles with a dark atmosphere and steep difficulty. Their newest title Elden Ring looks to be an action RPG in that same vein. At the very least, it would be tough to say it looks like a cute dating simulator.

However, at the time of this writing, the game’s Steam page has tags like “Dating Sim”, “Cute”, “Casual”, and “Nude” attached to it. It’s hard to think these tags are based on the actual contents of the game and it seems unlikely that From Software or Bandai Namco, the game’s publisher, would add them. The suspected party here is Steam’s user-defined tag system.

Steam’s tag system allows genre and other relevant information to be linked to a game as a tag. It can be something broad like “RPG” or “Adventure” to something more specific to the game like “Difficult” or “Sci-fi”. Eventually, the top 20 tags will influence how users can search for the game and where it shows up in the store.  The game’s developer/publisher can add tags or order which tags have the most priority through the administrator settings.

Besides developers, regular Steam users are also free to create and add tags to a game. However, these tags aren’t immediately reflected on Steam. For example, if one user adds a “Cute” tag to a game, it won’t have a high enough priority level. As long as other users don’t add the same tag or endorse the “Cute” tag, its rank won’t rise in the system. These limitations make user tags more of a supplement to the tags provided by the game’s developers.

Now if a whole bunch of users use the “Cute” tag, it can suddenly climb the ranks as a tag that represents what’s in the game. In other words, Elden Ring is most likely being tagged as a cute dating simulator because Steam users are backing these tags in large numbers.

In order to know the background on why they’re doing this, we need to take a look at the fan culture around From Software’s games. As previously mentioned, the studio’s games such as Dark Souls tend to be dark and gloomy with game design that’s meant to be tough and heartbreaking. They’re great games though with the worlds and gameplay being highly detailed and finely tuned. That’s why From Software’s games, despite piling on the deaths and breaking gamer’s hearts, are beloved by a wildly enthusiastic fanbase.

The thing that brings comfort to these fans is the NPC characters. One that’s especially popular is probably the Fire Keeper from the Dark Souls series. The series has multiple characters that are called Fire Keepers, but across each game they’re an important support character that helps the player with things like leveling up and strengthening healing items.

After overcoming the danger, death, and despair of battle, these devoted characters await to offer support and a lot of players are probably quite fond of them. But it’s not limited to just Fire Keepers. From Software’s games have naked spider-women, dragon girls, stout goddesses, and tall slender dolls.

Plus they have charming and fascinating male NPCs. There’s a sun-loving fellow, a lovable and chubby knight, a sly man, a handsome guy willing to lay his life on the line for his kingdom and family, and many more. It’s not too out there to think that there are players that have “fallen in love” with the characters they’ve come across in these games.

Because of all the players that love these characters, the fans have likened From Software’s games to dating simulators. As for why Elden Ring was dubbed a dating simulator, fans pushing the “From Software games are dating simulators” meme is likely the culprit.

Although it’s probably only a portion of fans adding tags, when the fanbase is huge, these sorts of results can arise. Something worth keeping in mind is that tags in Steam that don’t match what’s actually in a game have the potential to impede searches and marketing for a game.

Luckily the priority of tags can be edited by the game’s developer/publisher so it’s unlikely that Elden Ring will continue to be treated like a dating simulator. Making joke tags isn’t something we recommend, but this shows the anticipation that’s building around the game and characters.

Speaking of characters, the cute character dubbed “Pot Boy” that briefly appeared in a trailer for the game is already gaining popularity among fans that can’t wait for the game. But it’s a From Software game, so while it may look cute, it could be a player-killing machine.

Elden Ring is planned to release on Steam, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and the Xbox Series S|X on January 21, 2022.