Every Souls and Souls-adjacent game has a yearly event called 'Return to' where fans start new characters and revitalize the online scene. You're asked to place your summon sign down and invade more, bringing that spark of release day back to life. Dark Souls 2's is usually held in February but this year it's being moved to January.
Why? Elden Ring. With a new FromSoftware game coming, a direct spiritual successor to Dark Souls no less, it's unlikely that anyone will want to play the middle child of the trilogy. So to avoid burying Return to Drangleic under the mounting anticipation, the community has decided to hold it from January 16 to 30, but you can continue into February if you want. Whether enough people do to keep online going strong is another matter entirely.
However, the event is focused more on Dark Souls 2's remaster, Scholar of the First Sin. If you dive into the original, it's unlikely you'll get the same experience. Nonetheless, it's an event across platforms - if you're on PC, PlayStation, or Xbox, you can participate. The game isn't cross-platform, but people from all corners of gaming will be jumping in to kill and help you, revitalizing online across the board. So get your cracked red eye orbs ready.
Aside from the in-game invasion, PvP arena, and summoning mechanics, players tend to host their own unique online activities in each Dark Souls. One of which is a 'fight club.' It's an honour system where you're summoned into a player's world to find a ring of glowing orbs around two other players. They duel. Whoever wins then fights the next opponent and so on and so forth.
The idea is that you sit back and watch until it's your turn. Typically, if you don't do that, all the others - including fellow red phantoms - will jump and kill you. Best not ruin a good vibe, eh? Many have commented on the announcement post to say that they will be hosting fight clubs, so you're sure to find plenty if you opt to take part this year.