Is Zenimax's upcoming MMO too expensive to play? We do the math and consider its place in the current market.
Season Zero: Dawn and Dusk is now live for all platforms (including PC/Mac, Xbox, and PlayStation), kicking off a new era for The Elder Scrolls Online. This inaugural Season is live from April 2 until July 8 and lays the foundation for all future Seasons by introducing new reward systems, the first wave of player-focused improvements, class and combat redesigns, new zones and challenges, and more.
Check out some of the rewards you can unlock and acquire in ESO’s first ever Tamriel Tome, arriving April 2, 2026.
Get an in-depth view of the future of ESO with the 2026 Seasons Direct, followed by two developer and community member roundtables. Join the team at ZeniMax Online Studios as they share the many ways ESO is evolving with new adventures, stories, challenges, and systems, plus get your first look at each Season arriving in 2026. A new age for The Elder Scrolls Online is about to begin!
If it were F2P...it would be "pay to win" bogged down by a ton of microtransactions. This is why P2P is the better model. Everything is covered in the cost of a P2P model...plus, it supports the developers with maintenance, patches, DLC, expansions and so on.
Now...I understand there is a percentage of people who prefer F2P and there is an equal percentage of people who prefer P2P. I personally prefer P2P MMO's. Those who are diehards, will pay the sub to play. Those who dont like paying subs, wont. That doesnt mean the game will bomb or fail. It splits the community between those who are serious about playing the game, at the cost of a sub...and those who arent.
Make no mistake about it. People WILL pay to play this game. For how long, depends on how good the game is...and whether or not Bethesda can keep it's popularity rolling with hot momentum. Im anxious to see how well this game does, TBH. I've waited a LONG time to see a developer rise up with an MMO that would destroy WoW. Maybe ESO will be the one....
Played it yesterday. Got into beta. So far I'm very unimpressed. I'm a huge Elder Scrolls Fan, been playing it since the very first one. I've also played tons of b2p, subscription based and free mmos. While graphically ESO looks quite good, everything else seem just like all other mmos. Sorry Bethesda...I really wanted to like this game enough to buy it but it just won't happen. Huge price for a full game and then subscription is just too much for a game that brings nothing new to the table.