If you were hoping to play The Elder Scrolls Online (TESO) for the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One in June, you’re going to be waiting quite a while longer. ZeniMax Online Studios today announced that the targeted June launch window for TESO on the two console platforms will be missed by several months.
A recent update posted to the TESO website today confirmed that the team has made the decision to delay the June launch by at least another six months, putting the new launch window around December 2014 if all goes as planned. ZeniMax explained that the delay was due to “a series of unique problems” specific to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 platforms. Those problems will have to be resolved before the console launch can move forward, and that will apparently take about six months or so.
As a sort of silver lining, ZeniMax Online has worked out a deal with both Sony and Microsoft that will allow anyone that purchases a PC or Mac version of TESO to transfer their characters to the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One version once it launches later this year (maybe for free, the announcement doesn’t specify). The catch is that you’ll have to purchase the game before the end of June to qualify for the transfer offer and it’ll cost you an extra $20 to get the full digital version for TESO on the consoles of your choice. So you won’t have to pay full price for the game twice, and the additional $20 for the digital version also comes with an extra 30 days of game time.
Earlier this month the development team revealed the first content update that includes such content as the new Craglorn Adventure Zone, a death recap option for PvP and PvE to find out who the dirty bastage was that killed you and what they used to do it so that you can hunt them down and get retribution, new Underdog bonuses for Cyrodiil, and a number of tweaks, fixes, and balance changes. Another big addition in the update is Trials, a new 12-player raid type instance for Veteran Rank players complete with competition leaderboards.
ZeniMax has also issued a response to some of the reviews and criticisms in the update, vowing to make improvements to the game every week and listing off a number of different features in the works to release further down the road, one of which is the popular theft system from past Elder Scrolls games that adds a penalty for lifting items in plain sight of other characters, so don’t get too comfy with all that freely looted stuff. The guards may be watching.
You can read all about those features and more in the latest TESO Roadmap. Just don’t expect them to hit the console anytime soon. Sorry guys. Just look on the bright side, at least it's still coming. There's a long list of games that intended to have console releases that never happened.
TESO launched on April 4, 2014 as a subscription-based title for PC and Mac.
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