At the launch of the MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online, the game faced immediate issues. A multitude of reasons caused player numbers to drop, but an expansion changed the tide.
What was the release of ESO like? The Elder Scrolls Online was released in 2014 and immediately faced problems:
- The Elder Scrolls was only known to players as a pure single-player brand and was critically viewed by both single-player and MMORPG fans.
- Some compared the game to WoW or wanted it to become the next WoW, even though ESO and WoW have little in common.
- Poor balancing, where vampires were too strong, bugs and technical issues, as well as an endgame that left much to be desired, plagued players.
- Although versions for PlayStation and Xbox One were announced, they never launched due to numerous problems with the PC version.
- The year 2014 was a strong year for MMORPGs, with titles like WildStar and ArcheAge making it difficult for ESO.
However, with an expansion of the game, the player base could double from one day to the next.
Here you can see the trailer for The Elder Scrolls Online – Gold Road.
This expansion is the reason for the game’s success
Which expansion is it? The expansion that brought success to The Elder Scrolls Online is the player expansion “Tamriel Unlimited”. At the time, it abolished the mandatory subscription, guild traders were introduced, and the game moved more towards a sandbox in terms of the legal system in the game.
The CEO of Zenimax Online Studios, the developers behind Elder Scrolls Online, recently stated: “Overnight, our login population on PC doubled simply because players could come back without having to subscribe; they could just play […] the next night it doubled again. So we knew we were on the right track.”
In just two months, the game welcomed 3 million new players and broke the mark of 500,000 concurrent players across all platforms.
How was the success continued? To ensure the expansion was not just a one-hit wonder, the developers put effort into the subsequent updates as well. A year after the release of “Tamriel Unlimited”, a major update allowed players from the three factions to play together.
CEO Matt Firor mentioned that they made a realization: “Do you really care what level you are in GTA or other modern games? No, you just log in, play, and have fun. We wanted to make ESO such a game.” Therefore, with the same update, level scaling was also introduced.
What is the status of the game’s success today? Even today, The Elder Scrolls Online is still successful. Currently, the celebration for the 10th anniversary of the game is ongoing. The CEO also revealed that the game has probably earned 2 billion dollars over its lifetime. An impressive figure.
However, since Microsoft’s acquisition, much has changed in the corporate structure of Zenimax Online Studios. A former developer claims the game’s success is due to just one man.
