Emerging from the success of the worldwide phenomenon of The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Bethesda, the publishing arm behind the series, decided to enter the online space and compete with the likes of World of Warcraft and Guild Wars 2. Their game, The Elder Scrolls Online, was initially released to middling reviews and was tied to an outdated pay monthly model; something that many games struggle to maintain given the amount of players needed to make it sustainable.
Fast forward a year and The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited has been released. Doing away with mandatory subscription models the game now offers a free to play element (with the option of payment for dedicated players with added bonuses) and is now releasing on both Playstation 4 and Xbox One which, they hope, will cement the game’s growing popularity. The game is proof that smart business can work.
