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Plan on about 60 hours for a story-focused run of the base game, roughly 100 hours if you take on substantial extras, and around 135–140 hours for completionist-style play. These are planning estimates, not official finish times or guarantees. They do not include Shadow of the Erdtree, the separate expansion.
The precise example figures displayed by Fous from HowLongToBeat are 60.1, 101, and 136 hours, respectively; Grouvee reports a different set of estimates. The range matters: the answer depends both on how much of the game you intend to do and which tracker’s estimate you use.
How long does Elden Ring take to beat?
For the base game, the best quick estimate is about 60 hours for the main story, about 100 hours for the story plus substantial extras, or roughly 135–140 hours for completionist play. Those figures describe different scopes of play, not three estimates for an identical route.
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| Base-game scope | HowLongToBeat figure displayed by Fous | Grouvee figure |
|---|---|---|
| Main story | 60.1 hours | About 81 hours |
| Main story plus extras | 101 hours | About 103 hours |
| Completionist | 136 hours | About 145 hours |
Figures were checked on October 30, 2026. They are community-tracker estimates, not official statistics. The available figures do not establish why the trackers differ, so it would be misleading to assign the gap to a particular player skill level, number of deaths, guide use, build, or calculation method.
For a single headline number, roughly 60 hours is the closest match for a story-focused base-game run. If you already know you want to explore optional areas, use the roughly 100-hour estimate instead. The 135–145-hour range is the broadest planning category here, and is better suited to someone intentionally pursuing much more than the central route. None of these numbers is a maximum, minimum, or promise that a playthrough will end at a particular point on the clock.
What do the main-story, extras, and completionist estimates mean?
The categories are useful because they describe different intentions. The main-story estimate is the closest fit if you expect to focus on progressing through the central story; the extras category allows appreciable optional play; and completionist is a tracker’s broad label for pursuing much more of the game.
Main story: about 60–81 hours
The two listed trackers place a story-focused base-game run at 60.1 hours and about 81 hours. Use that spread as a planning range rather than choosing the lower figure as a target. The label does not specify a single required route or promise that every player will make the same choices along the way.
This is the most relevant category if your priority is finishing the base game’s central story without setting out to see or do everything. It should not be read as a checklist of exactly which locations or activities to skip: the tracker category is broad, and the listed figures do not define a universal story route.
Main story plus extras: about 101–103 hours
This category is a better fit if you expect to explore many optional areas alongside story progression. FromSoftware describes a world of connected landscapes and dungeons, so there is room to take a less direct route. The estimate does not assign a fixed number of hours to any particular optional activity.
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In practical terms, choose this estimate when the appeal is not just reaching the end, but also taking detours and spending appreciable time on optional content. The figures are close across the two listings—101 hours displayed by Fous from HowLongToBeat and about 103 hours from Grouvee—but that agreement does not make them guaranteed times for an individual run.
Completionist: about 136–145 hours
Choose this as a rough planning figure if you want to pursue substantially more than the main route. “Completionist” is a tracker category; it does not, by itself, prove that every achievement has been earned, nor does it establish how many playthroughs an individual will need.
If your personal goal is specifically every achievement, every item, or a particular set of endings, these broad figures do not confirm that your goal matches the tracker’s definition. The entries do not spell out a universal completion checklist. Treat completionist as a signal that you plan to do considerably more, not as proof that a specific 100% standard has been met.
How should you use these estimates to plan a playthrough?
Start with the kind of run you actually want, then treat the matching tracker figures as a range for scheduling—not as a deadline. If you have a limited amount of time, the story-focused figures are the relevant starting point; if optional exploration is part of the appeal, the extras estimate is more appropriate.
- Decide your scope. Choose whether you are aiming mainly to progress the story, to explore many optional areas, or to pursue a completionist-style run.
- Select one tracker’s estimate set. Compare HowLongToBeat’s displayed figures with Grouvee’s figures, but do not combine one tracker’s main-story figure with the other tracker’s completionist figure as though they came from one consistent measurement.
- Leave room for uncertainty. These are estimates, not guaranteed finish times. The sources do not quantify how individual play decisions affect duration, so avoid treating any single number as a personalized prediction.
- Keep the expansion separate. If you intend to play Shadow of the Erdtree too, plan for it as an additional section rather than assuming its time is included in the base-game figures.
A useful way to make the estimate actionable is to decide which category describes your intention before you begin, rather than trying to force every player into one average. Someone who wants the central story has a different plan from someone who expects to visit many optional areas. Likewise, a player pursuing a completionist-style run should not use the story figure as their schedule and then treat the difference as a surprise overrun.
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If you are comparing sources, compare like with like: HowLongToBeat’s displayed main-story figure against Grouvee’s main-story figure, for example. The figures were checked against accessible displays on October 30, 2026, and community estimates or store listings can change. The HowLongToBeat examples were visible through Fous, so it is more accurate to describe them that way than to claim they are a currently verified live game-page total.
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Does Shadow of the Erdtree count in the Elden Ring time?
No. The estimates above are for the base game; Shadow of the Erdtree is a separate expansion. Official product information says the original game is required and that players must progress through it to a certain extent before beginning the expansion. No reliable fixed number of hours to unlock it is established here.
FromSoftware’s official expansion information states: “This product does not include the base game ‘ELDEN RING.’” That notice describes the expansion product; it should not be read as saying that every combined edition excludes the base game, or that the expansion is needed to finish the original game.
For a newcomer planning both, the practical sequence is base game first, then the expansion once the required progress has been made. Since the unlock point is expressed as a progress requirement rather than a reliable number of hours, do not budget the expansion as though it becomes available after a fixed time. The base-game estimates remain useful as their own planning guideposts, but they do not include time spent in the expansion.
How long is the expansion on its own?
Grouvee’s separate Shadow of the Erdtree entry lists about 38 hours for its main story, about 60 hours with extras, and about 65 hours for completionist-style expansion play. These are expansion-only community estimates from a separate entry, not guaranteed extra time and not a direct HowLongToBeat estimate.
It is tempting to add an expansion figure to a base-game figure and publish a single combined total. That would imply more precision than the estimates support: they come from different entries, and the expansion requires some base-game progress first. For a combined plan, use the categories as separate guideposts and allow for your actual route rather than treating the sum as an exact schedule.
If you already own the base game and are considering the expansion, the expansion’s own estimate is the relevant comparison. If you do not own either, a physical Elden Ring edition or a physical Shadow of the Erdtree Edition may be an option depending on your platform and preference. Check the actual listing for its platform, format, and included content: product names and contents matter, and the expansion is not required to complete the original game.
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Why do Elden Ring completion-time estimates vary?
Trackers report different figures, and their category labels represent broad kinds of play rather than a universal route. In the listed data, the main-story estimates differ more than the extras estimates; the completionist figures also are not identical. Neither source establishes a formula that explains those gaps.
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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11The game’s connected landscapes and dungeons help explain why “main story” and “with extras” are meaningfully different planning choices. But the available estimates do not isolate the time cost of any one factor, such as exploration, deaths, character builds, or guide use. It is safer to say those sources leave individual play variation unquantified than to claim that one factor adds a specific number of hours.
There is also no official, universally applicable completion-time statistic in the available information. The tracker figures are useful because they give readers a shared reference point, but they should remain attributed estimates rather than being presented as an official duration.
That distinction is especially important when two numbers look precise. The 60.1-hour display is a figure attached to an example result, not a promise that a player can finish in precisely 60 hours and six minutes. Rounded planning language—about 60 hours, about 100 hours, and about 135–140 hours—better reflects what the estimates can support.
What should you take away before starting?
- For the base game, use about 60 hours for a story-focused run, around 100 hours for substantial extras, or about 135–140 hours for completionist-style play.
- Those are planning estimates. HowLongToBeat figures displayed by Fous and Grouvee report different values, so keep each tracker’s figures attributed to that source.
- Shadow of the Erdtree is separate from the base-game estimates and has its own, lower-confidence community time estimates.
In short, choose the estimate that matches the playthrough you want, and keep the base game and expansion in separate parts of your plan. The numbers provide useful scale, not a deadline or an official finish-time guarantee.
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How long does Elden Ring take to beat if I only do the main story?
For the base game, the listed estimates are 60.1 hours from HowLongToBeat as displayed by Fous and about 81 hours from Grouvee. Treat about 60–81 hours as a planning range, not a guaranteed finish time.
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How long to 100% Elden Ring?
The completionist category is about 136 hours in the HowLongToBeat figures displayed by Fous and about 145 hours on Grouvee. Those labels do not prove that every achievement or every player-defined 100% goal is included.
Does Elden Ring’s time estimate include Shadow of the Erdtree?
No. The base-game figures are separate. Grouvee lists the expansion itself at about 38 hours for its main story, about 60 hours with extras, and about 65 hours for completionist-style play. These are expansion-only community estimates.
Can you finish Elden Ring without playing Shadow of the Erdtree?
Yes. The expansion is a separate product and is not described as required to finish the original game. Starting the expansion does require the base game and some progress in it.
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Does Elden Ring have an official completion-time estimate?
No universally applicable official finish-time figure is established here. The hour counts are third-party community-tracker estimates, not an official promise from the publisher.
Do the estimates differ between PC, PlayStation, and Xbox?
The cited time estimates are not broken down by platform, so they do not support a platform-by-platform comparison. Treat them as general planning figures rather than a claim about a particular version.
The Bottom Line
Bottom line: Plan on about 60 hours for a story-focused base-game run, around 100 hours with substantial extras, and roughly 135–145 hours for completionist-style play, depending on which tracker you use. Shadow of the Erdtree is additional, with its own community estimates.
