Bethesda’s sprawling, open-world MMO The Elder Scrolls Online won’t release on consoles for another six months, the company has confirmed.
News comes via an official statement from the publisher, which details the ongoing issues the studio has faced in aligning the intricate, ever-changing systems of The Elder Scrolls Online with that of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
“It has become clear that our planned June release of the console versions isn’t going to be possible. Though we have made great progress, we have concluded that we’ll need about six months to ensure we deliver the experience our fans expect and deserve.”
Originally, Bethesda’s title was pegged for a June release on current-gen systems, though today’s news will mean that those holding out for the game’s console debut won’t be able to venture into the online rendition of Tamriel until later in the year, at the earliest.
To alleviate the impact of the six-month delay, the company is also offering potential players a limited offer that will allow them to transfer their in-game character — be they Nord, Orc or even Khajiit — to PlayStation 4 and Xbox upon release.
“Via a special offer, anyone who purchases and plays the PC/Mac version of The Elder Scrolls Online by the end of June will have the opportunity to transfer their character(s) to either console version when they are released.”
Currently, The Elder Scrolls Online is available across PC and Mac, where it released on April 4th. Looking to consoles, though, Bethesda will hope to avoid the performance issues which plagued Skyrim — particularly on PS3 — with this postponement; and, who knows, the MMO may even be free-to-play by that stage in the vein of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Time will tell.
Published: May 8, 2014 09:46 am