The Elder Scrolls Online Revealed

Everyone gasp in absolute shock! OK, so it’s not a complete surprise, but The Elder Scrolls is going online in the form of an MMO. There are scarce details at the moment as the exclusive reveal comes from the Game Informer, but a trailer and pictures will be made available tomorrow.

The game will be developed by Zenimax Online Studios, a sister company to Bethesda made for the purpose of developing online games. So far, the only details we have are: It’ll be based some 1000 years before the events of Skyrim, with one daedri prince by the name of Molag Bal attempting to pull Tamriel into his realm.

There will be the usual solo questing and ‘public dungeons’. PvP will likely be at the heart, with three faction open-world warfare. It’s worth pointing out now that the game director is one Matt Firor, an MMO veteran from Mythic, responsible for Dark Age of Camelot, an MMO built around PvP. The estimated release date is some time in 2013, for both PC and Mac.

How this will all play out with long time TES fans remains to be seen. Part of the joy of the franchise was the open world, player driven content. You are the hero, without the glory being shared (interfered) by thousands of others. The choices you made changed the world you were in. I, like many, will be holding off my worries until tomorrow, when we’ll get more details.

“It will be extremely rewarding finally to unveil what we have been developing the last several years,” Firor told Game Informer. “The entire team is committed to creating the best MMO ever made—and one that is worthy of The Elder Scrolls franchise.”