This Friday, Elden Ring is released. If you’re looking forward to the game, going into work that day will suck. How will you focus? You’ll just be counting down the minutes—no, the seconds—until you can get out of that place and starting playing From Software’s latest opus.
The game’s already being called a masterpiece. So maybe you should just call in sick, tell them you’re not feeling up to coming into work. I know you want to, you know want to. And Japanese game studio Pocket Pair knows this, too.
Located in Tokyo, Pocket Pair is best known for Craftopia, which it describes as an “open world survival crafting game.” Craftopia caught our eye at a gaming showcase last fall. “I’m still not exactly sure what the game’s deal is, but it’s definitely a fever dream, one I’ll certainly be trying,” wrote Kotaku’s Ari Notis at the time.
The folks at Pocket Pair smartly realize that the Elden Ring’s release is such an event that it’s formally announced an “Elden Holiday” for all staff members. They state in the official proclamation they “imagine that [staff] cannot focus on work.” They’re probably right!
That means this Friday is an official day off. How cool is that? Plus, while not formally a day off, the studio also says employees don’t need to come into work on the following Monday, either. That means they can spend the rest of the month playing Elden Ring.
This isn’t a first. When Monster Hunter Rise was released, another company instituted a formally announced “Monster Hunter Holiday” so that all staffers could stay home and play Monster Hunter Rise on the release date over a nice, three-day weekend. That holiday, however, did not apply to top-level execs.
It’s unclear if this will be the same for Pocket Pair, but seeing how excited the studio’s head is, I doubt he’ll be at work on Friday.