The latest news came out last week that Elder Scrolls Online has scrapped its mandatory subscription model, however, the game is not Free to Play (F2P), instead it offers a $60 purchase as an optional model rather than mandatory.
This optional model is tagged as ESO Plus where players are given full access to all DLC, cosmetic store currencies alongside flat boosts to XP rewards, gold and crafting times including the purported regular micro-transactions for all players.
Scrapping the mandatory subscription connects with the upcoming launch of the game on Xbox One and PS4 next gen consoles as pre-requisite for the actual release to ever occur. Console players basically do not subscribe to games whether they're MMOs or not because that would mean a third layer of monthly fees to play games online on top of ISP, PSN or Xbox Live and subscriptions fees of a particular game.
No matter how profitable this model seems to be, it simply doesn't pick up on 95% of PC launch at present and definitely will not work on consoles either. Hence, Elder Scrolls Online will be released this June without the aforementioned mandatory subscription model.
According to reports, Elder Scrolls Online will come out as huge hit due to three reasons: One, it's up for a June release rather than on a busy Fall release window for other console games, two, it's very much alike ES game, and lastly, current MMO like gaming experiences seem to pique the interest of next gen console gamers.
Meanwhile, Bethesda Softworks deviates from the norm of releasing new titles each year. If fans can recall, it took five years for the game developer to launch Skyrim in 2011 following Oblivion's arrival in 2006.
If this pattern will be held constant, gamers can get their hands on the long-awaited new entry to the franchise, Elder Scrolls 6, within a 2016 release date window.
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