Bethesda Softworks announced this morning that the Elder Scrolls Online, the company's first foray into the world of massively multiplayer online gaming, is dropping its subscription fee and going free-to-play*.
(* Edit: As several readers point out in the comments, ESO won't be 100% free-to-play: New players will still have to make a one-time purchase of the software up front. But if you're already playing, you won't have to spend another dime starting on March 17 --regular updates and new gameplay will be offered to all players free of charge. The game will be supported by a premium membership service as well as selling stuff like DLC and 'convenience and customization items' à la carte.)
We totally saw this coming.
Before Elder Scrolls Online went live on April 4th of last year, I got into a email discussion with several of my Forbes Games colleagues about how the game was in trouble from day one. The problem, as we saw it, is that there was no way the company could sustain a subscription-only service; gamers would just not be willing to pay.
Feb 01, 2017 Picked up TESO (The Elder Scrolls Online), Tamriel Unlimited, recently from a sale at the local EBgames and thought I'd give it a crack. Loved Skyrim and wanted to see more of the lands of Tamriel. Dragons Are Unleashed on The Elder Scrolls’ 25th Anniversary & You Can Play Free! The Elder Scrolls is 25 years old, and you can celebrate this amazing milestone with us by unleashin Announcements Events Elsweyr Free Play.
First, they had to buy the software. The Elder Scrolls Online 'Standard Edition' cost $59.99, but it didn't give access to everything in the game; if users wanted to play as an Imperial, they had to buy the 'Imperial Version' for $99.99. Then they had to pay a subscription --each version came with 30 days of game time included, but after that, players were on the hook for a fee of $14.99 a month.
That's $224.88 to play the standard version of the game for twelve months, and $264.88 for the Imperial Version. There's not many gamers willing to shell that kind of money out --and the few who would are probably already deeply committed to another MMO, like Activision Blizzard's World of Warcraft.
The consensus among my Forbes Games colleagues was that developer ZeniMax Online Studios and publisher Bethesda Softworks were going to drop the paywall as soon as they'd wrung as much cash from hardcore Elder Scrolls fans as they could.
So I asked them all to answer a question: On what date will Elder Scrolls Online announce it's giving up on its subscription model and going free to pay?
Collectively, they nailed it. On average, the six members of the Forbes Games team who contributed to the pool thought that Elder Scrolls Online would throw in the towel after just 284 days, or a little over 9 months from launch. That means our group predicted the announcement would come on Tuesday, January 13. We missed it by only a week.
Individually, we were all very close, too. Here are our guesses:
- Jan 21, 2015 Gaming Bethesda's Elder Scrolls Online will be free to play. The Elder Scrolls Online is making the jump to next-generation consoles - and it's going to be free to play as well.
- Bethesda's Elder Scrolls Online will be free to play. The new name comes with another important change: Bethesda is dropping the monthly subscription fee, making the game fully free to play. Next generation consoles owners can simply buy the game when it launches on June 9 and never need to pay a cent again.
- Feb 13, 2018 Free to play or monthly fee? You have to buy the game first then you can play it. There is an optional monthly fee if you want ESO plus which is a special privilage pass so to say.
- 5 Reasons Now is the Perfect Time to Jump into The Elder Scrolls Online. With the Free Play Event now live and no subscription required to play, there’s never been a better Free Play Guides.
- November 11th, 2014 Jason Evangelho
- December 1st, 2014 Paul Tassi
- January 4th, 2015 David Thier
- January 5th, 2015 David Ewalt
- March 1st, 2015 Erik Kain
- April 1st, 2015 Alex Knapp
Yeah, I know it's a little suspicious that I won my own contest, but I think what's really telling about this is how close we all were: Even the biggest 'misses' were only off by 10 weeks in either direction.
Alternately, if you measure our predictions to the date the game actually goes free to play (March 17 for PC, with Xbox and PlayStation to follow in June), not the date the move was announced, then Alex Knapp edges out Erik Kain by a single day --and our collective guess was still only off by 9 weeks, or 63 days.
The bottom line, though, isn't how smart my colleagues are. It's how obvious it was that ESO was never going to stay pay-to-play, and how video game consumers should think twice before paying big bucks to get into a new game at launch. I wonder how many of the folks who've paid nearly $300 for ESO now wish they'd waited a year --just like all the people who have pre-ordered console games that turned out to suck.
'>Bethesda Softworks announced this morning that the Elder Scrolls Online, the company's first foray into the world of massively multiplayer online gaming, is dropping its subscription fee and going free-to-play*.
(* Edit: As several readers point out in the comments, ESO won't be 100% free-to-play: New players will still have to make a one-time purchase of the software up front. But if you're already playing, you won't have to spend another dime starting on March 17 --regular updates and new gameplay will be offered to all players free of charge. The game will be supported by a premium membership service as well as selling stuff like DLC and 'convenience and customization items' à la carte.)
We totally saw this coming.
Before Elder Scrolls Online went live on April 4th of last year, I got into a email discussion with several of my Forbes Games colleagues about how the game was in trouble from day one. The problem, as we saw it, is that there was no way the company could sustain a subscription-only service; gamers would just not be willing to pay.
Is Eso Free To Play
First, they had to buy the software. The Elder Scrolls Online 'Standard Edition' cost $59.99, but it didn't give access to everything in the game; if users wanted to play as an Imperial, they had to buy the 'Imperial Version' for $99.99. Then they had to pay a subscription --each version came with 30 days of game time included, but after that, players were on the hook for a fee of $14.99 a month.
That's $224.88 to play the standard version of the game for twelve months, and $264.88 for the Imperial Version. There's not many gamers willing to shell that kind of money out --and the few who would are probably already deeply committed to another MMO, like Activision Blizzard's World of Warcraft.
The consensus among my Forbes Games colleagues was that developer ZeniMax Online Studios and publisher Bethesda Softworks were going to drop the paywall as soon as they'd wrung as much cash from hardcore Elder Scrolls fans as they could.
So I asked them all to answer a question: On what date will Elder Scrolls Online announce it's giving up on its subscription model and going free to pay?
Collectively, they nailed it. On average, the six members of the Forbes Games team who contributed to the pool thought that Elder Scrolls Online would throw in the towel after just 284 days, or a little over 9 months from launch. That means our group predicted the announcement would come on Tuesday, January 13. We missed it by only a week.
Individually, we were all very close, too. Here are our guesses:
- November 11th, 2014 Jason Evangelho
- December 1st, 2014 Paul Tassi
- January 4th, 2015 David Thier
- January 5th, 2015 David Ewalt
- March 1st, 2015 Erik Kain
- April 1st, 2015 Alex Knapp
Yeah, I know it's a little suspicious that I won my own contest, but I think what's really telling about this is how close we all were: Even the biggest 'misses' were only off by 10 weeks in either direction.
Alternately, if you measure our predictions to the date the game actually goes free to play (March 17 for PC, with Xbox and PlayStation to follow in June), not the date the move was announced, then Alex Knapp edges out Erik Kain by a single day --and our collective guess was still only off by 9 weeks, or 63 days.
The bottom line, though, isn't how smart my colleagues are. It's how obvious it was that ESO was never going to stay pay-to-play, and how video game consumers should think twice before paying big bucks to get into a new game at launch. I wonder how many of the folks who've paid nearly $300 for ESO now wish they'd waited a year --just like all the people who have pre-ordered console games that turned out to suck.
The Elder Scrolls Online, developer Bethesda's massively multiplayer online game set in its much-loved game world of Tamirel, is making the jump from PC to next generation consoles.
Launched back in April 2014, The Elder Scrolls Online gave gamers a chance to experience an open-world, non-linear, multiplayer version of the lovingly-crafted environments that they'd seen in the five previous Elder Scrolls single-player RPG games.
As the game makes the move to console, it's being retitled The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited. The new name comes with another important change: Bethesda is dropping the monthly subscription fee, making the game fully free to play. Next generation consoles owners can simply buy the game when it launches on June 9 and never need to pay a cent again. Bethesda does note, however, that 'as with any standard multiplayer game on these platforms, an internet connection and an Xbox Live Gold or PlayStation Plus membership will be required to play'.
The console version will ship with all the updates and additional content packs that have been already released for PC.
Elder Scrolls Online Free To Play Steam
From March 17, all existing PC or Mac accounts -- even those closed or inactive -- will also be updated to Tamriel Unlimited, with former players receiving an invite explaining the changes.
Bethesda will also offer ESO Plus membership. This allows gamers to pay for 30-, 90- or 180-day memberships in return for a number of in-game bonuses. These include an allotment of crowns (the in-game currency) at the start of each month, along with bonuses to experience gain and access to optional downloadable content packs. Pricing on the ESO Plus membership has not been named.
Sadly, for anyone hoping that ESO:TU might feature cross-platform play, Bethesda has confirmed that while Mac and PC gamers will share the same world, PS4 and Xbox One will feature distinct servers.
Pricing for the console and PC versions of The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited has yet to be announced by Bethesda.