Today, ZeniMax Online Studios announced that Season One for The Elder Scrolls Online is now live on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S and X.
Earlier this year, the studio announced a move away from regular expansions (Chapters), with all future DLCs added for free. This allowed them to experiment a lot more with gameplay systems. Indeed, from July through October, Season One will add three new content systems, two questlines, a new Trial, a large open-world event, and a zone refresh to the MMORPG.
The stuff available immediately consists of the core Thieves Guild package and the new season framework. That includes the Return of the Thieves Guild questline in Glenumbra, the new Tamriel Tome seasonal reward track, the Favors system, Dynamic Encounters, and the Glenumbra visual refresh. Favors turns daily questing into a reputation-and-task loop tied to NPC relationships and repeatable rewards, while Dynamic Encounters are designed to make base zones feel more alive by adding spontaneous world activity.
On July 29, ZeniMax Online Studios will add Sheogorath Tours Tamriel, a six-part questline that sends the Mad God on a chaos-filled holiday. On September 21, another major patch will drop with four major additions: the Crimson Veldt trial, the Nowhere Vault, the Rumors system, and a set of player experience improvements.
The Crimson Veldt is a new 12-player PvE trial set in Hircine’s Hunting Grounds, where players fight through challenging encounters and boss battles to face the First-Turned. It also introduces mounted combat, the first of its kind for ESO. The Nowhere Vault is quite the opposite: a solo experience located in “a realm between realms,” where players help Sage Voernet by solving puzzles and navigating ever-changing rooms.
The Rumors system is a non-linear exploration mechanic that uses hidden hints spread across the world of Tamriel. Players will collect clues, piece them together, and complete a story once the Rumors are assembled. Lastly, from September 30 until October 14, the High Seas of Tamriel in-game event sets players on a voyage across the Abecean Sea, where they'll fight pirates ship-to-ship, explore the depths of the ocean floor, and dig up sunken treasure troves.
All that sounds great to fans, and ZeniMax Online Studios even previously teased a return to Skyrim, always a fan-favorite location due to the enormous popularity of The Elder Scrolls V, in 2027.
However, the medium and long-term future of Elder Scrolls Online is now in serious jeopardy following the massive cuts mandated by Xbox. According to a WARN notice discovered by Game Developer's Chris Kerr, the studio lost 213 employees. An accurate figure for how many employees were left after last year's cancellation of Project Blackbird is not available, but it may be the majority of the remaining staff. If so, it's hard to picture what kind of support they'll be able to provide.
ZeniMax Online Studios was also working hard to add cross-play to the game, which could benefit the size of the player base, as it did for many other online games, since people want to play with their friends regardless of the platform.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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