In the fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online, the release date for the console port to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One has officially been withdrawn. Although work is still ongoing on the port and good progress is being made, no specific date will be set.
In Matt Firor’s “The Road Ahead” letter, new information regarding the planned port of The Elder Scrolls Online to the current-gen consoles PlayStation 4 and Xbox One has emerged after a long silence. The previous release date of “late 2014” is now being withdrawn for the time being. Until now, “late 2014” was still relevant, after the planned port was postponed by half a year to “the end of the year” last summer.
Firor mentions in the letter that work on the implementation for the consoles has been continuously ongoing. They are also making good progress. However, it is still too early to provide an official release date.
They want to wait until two core systems have been implemented: The Champion System and the new Justice System.
At Zenimax, they want to tailor the console version of The Elder Scrolls Online for the consoles. They plan to replace the PC interface with a console UI, keeping in mind that console players want to play TESO comfortably at home on the couch with a controller.
Furthermore, Zenimax wants to make the console version fully compatible with Xbox Live and the PSN network, as well as integrate a voice chat feature. Players should expect to receive many more details about the console port by early 2015.
Mein MMO states: While the Champion System is coming soon, with Update 6 in January, the Justice System is actually something that was expected to arrive much later. It belongs to a series of new ideas and game systems conceived during extensive renovation works on the PC version. They aim to introduce these gradually: A lengthy process.
This system will also be introduced in “phases.” This means it will take several updates until it is fully implemented in the game. So this might still take a while. If one assumes Update 8, 9 or 10 as a likely date for the final phase of the Justice System, it would be around April, May, June 2015. And whether the console port will occur immediately afterward is another question.
There is, of course, no official timetable… not exactly good news for players waiting for a console port.
