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After the success of
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, there has been a tremendous amount of speculation as to the likelihood of
Bethesda Game Studios releasing an
Elder Scrolls MMO. Take off the tinfoil hats, folks, because there may be an announcement sooner than you think.
Kotaku, via
Tom's Guide, has late-breaking news that the makers of
Oblivion will be unveiling their plans to market a massively-multiplayer game based on their
Elder Scrolls franchise. Now, there are few details at this point, but it looks as if Bethesda and
ZeniMax Online Studios will be making their announcement in May.
Of the few details that have been leaked, where this game would fit on the
Elder Scrolls timeline seems
to be the most important. Sources are reporting that it would take place a full millennium before
Skyrim, during the "Second Era", which basically places it several hundreds of years before any of the current
Elder Scrolls games. As of now, there will be three factions. It's not clear where each of the playable races of the current
Elder Scrolls will fit into each of these factions, or if all races will be able to choose their own faction.
One detail that seems not to have surfaced at this point is the subscription model. With so many games going free-to-play, one can't help but wonder if an
Elder Scrolls MMO would hang with the likes of
World of Warcraft and
Star Wars the Old Republic. The trajectory of the industry seems to be placing more and more games into a free-to-play model, but time will tell when details of
Elder Scrolls Online are fully revealed!
Check back for any news as it develops!
