The MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online is on the verge of a major reveal. In early 2019, ESO is doing a lot right in the MMORPG space, says our author Schuhmann. Even datamining is currently helping the MMORPG.
Spoiler warning: The article mentions findings from datamining for ESO.
This is the situation: The big MMORPGs are mostly quiet in early 2019:
- In WoW, people are waiting for the opening of the raid, otherwise not much big is in sight. Blizzard has analyzed many problems – but the solution is still a long way off.
- Final Fantasy XIV introduced its big expansion in late November 2018, but that’s still a long way off
- Guild Wars 2 is approaching a new season of the Living World, but that will still take some time
- and Black Desert is slowly gliding towards a release on Xbox One
- Only The Elder Scrolls Online is starting 2019 with fanfare, dragon roars, and trumpets – the hype is in full swing.
ESO aims to dominate the first half of the year among MMORPGs
This is ESO’s plan: While WoW and many other MMORPGs set their highlights in the fall of a year, ESO consistently claims the beginning of the year and the summer for itself. As a console title, it avoids blockbuster games that usually come out in the fall – and WoW expansions.
The most important dates for ESO are always in the first half of the year:
- The release was in April 2014
- On PS4 and Xbox One, it launched in June 2015
- Morrowind was introduced on January 31, 2017, and released on June 6, 2017
- ESO introduced Summerset on March 21. The chapter was released on May 21, at least on PC
Datamining gives the starting signal
This is what’s happening with ESO in 2019: Last year, ESO waited until March to introduce the chapter “Summerset”. Only then did the focus really return to The Elder Scrolls Online.
2019 is happening much earlier.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t Zenimax itself that kicked things off, but a major datamining. This revealed the essential details for the next expansion on January 6:
- new class Necromancer – a typical badass class that many are already attracted to
- new area Elsweyr – the homeland of the feline Khajiit
- new enemies Dragons – for the “Skyrim” generation and fans of Game of Thrones
- a coherent story spanning all 4 expansions of 2019 – that’s why there’s still little buzz, but it could be a groundbreaking decision
This is how datamining has harmed other MMORPGs: In Guild Wars 2, a large datamining leak of the expansion “Path of Fire” took the wind out of the sails months in advance:
- In May 2017, the huge leak occurred
- The expansion was only officially presented in August 2017.
Back then, it took months before ArenaNet confirmed in a presentation what everyone already knew: Path of Fire would come just as leaked by dataminers.
The data mining seemed to completely tie ArenaNet’s hands, disrupting the entire marketing concept. How could one still create hype for something that everyone already knew for a quarter of a year?
“The cat is out of the bag”
This is how ESO reacted to the datamining: Zenimax presents itself differently. Shortly after the major leak, The Elder Scrolls Online released a blog post: The post began with “The cat is out of the bag.” They also announced a livestream in which they would announce the “Season of the Dragon.”
The Elder Scrolls Online didn’t directly address the leak, but seemed to confirm it with a wink. It sounded like 3 of the 4 points were confirmed with “the cat out of the bag” (Khajiit) and “Season of the Dragon” (dragons and coherent story).
There are two possibilities for this prompt reaction:
- Apparently, they anticipated that the leak would come and were prepared.
- Or they reacted very quickly and improvised coolly.
This is why it’s special: The leak doesn’t seem to harm The Elder Scrolls Online at all, rather the opposite. Datamining seems to help ESO to increase the hype around their game.
All information from the datamining has electrified the fans. Dragons, cats, and necros – these are all fan favorites.
Moreover, necromancers and dragons also bring controversy because they don’t actually fit into the lore and spark discussion among the community.
Rather than letting weeks go by and leaving the fans in uncertainty, they seem to take this “leak” with a wink and incorporate it into their PR machinery.
This is what happens next: Already tomorrow, on January 15, a live stream for The Elder Scrolls Online is set to introduce the new chapter.
This time, surely many eyes will be on The Elder Scrolls Online. While usually there is little going on in the MMORPG space at the beginning of the year, with first highlights arriving in March or April, ESO has decided to start the year in a full sprint in 2019.
The question is: Will the new expansion also only be released again in June like in previous years, or will an earlier release date be set, as they are currently doing?
We are excited to see if they will let more cats out of the bag during the stream. We will certainly follow that with interest on MeinMMO.
