Wann erscheint Elder Scrolls Online für XBox One und PS 4?

The launch of The Elder Scrolls Online on consoles XBox One and Playstation 4 in 2014 seems to be becoming increasingly unlikely.

With Gamescom behind us and many changes ahead, which Zenimax wants to bring to their fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online, it seems increasingly unlikely that we will see TESO on XBox One and Playstation 4 this year. Fans had hoped to hear some sign of life, some statement regarding the consoles at Gamescom in Cologne. This was not the case.

At Quakecon in Dallas or at E3, the other major trade fairs, there was likewise no news about the important and long-delayed console port. Now, there are only four and a half months left until the end of the year. It does not look like Zenimax will be able to meet the deadline. In fact, they have not confirmed it recently.

Which version will The Elder Scrolls Online even launch on XBox One and Playstation 4?

For The Elder Scrolls Online, the console port is already a critical issue. The launch on PC was mixed. Now the consoles are supposed to save the day – especially since the market seems ripe for large console MMOs. Who would be better suited than The Elder Scrolls? After all, the The Elder Scrolls series, at least since Skyrim, is also a console franchise. Skyrim sold exceptionally well on XBox 360.

Since there is already such a large gap between the launch for PC and the launch for XBox One and Playstation 4, it makes sense to turn this into an opportunity and also rejuvenate the PC version with the marketing campaign that will undoubtedly be launched.

However, that is easier said than done; the reality is complicated. The question is how many new features The Elder Scrolls Online wants to introduce into the game before they attempt to reach PC fans a second time with this “restart”. A lot has been announced. But the promised changes do not come overnight; they require a lot of time. The current patch rhythm suggests the following: every six weeks, Zenimax plans to introduce a new patch to the game. The 1.4 update, the next content patch, is set to arrive on the test server this week and will remain there for several weeks. It probably won’t go live until late September.

TESO still far from the ideal form

And this patch will indeed bring new dungeons, but none of the announced new features. The wish list remains untouched. In the next 6 weeks, none of the major to-do points on the list will be addressed. By the end of the year, and the console deadline, only two or three patches remain after 1.4. Considering the list of features that Zenimax wants to introduce into the game (Imperial City, justice system, spell weaving, and many others) – and noting that so far, if at all, there has only been one feature per patch, it is hard to imagine that the list will be completed by the end of the year. Not even significantly shorter before Santa Claus comes knocking. TESO is currently still far from the form that Zenimax wants for the game.

Moreover, it would not be wise to launch an unstable version on the consoles. It would also be wrong to field against strong competition on the consoles or to deliver the game without the features that one now believes are urgently needed.

A hasty launch on the consoles, just to keep a vague deadline, could have disastrous consequences, not just for the game, but for the franchise as well.

Amazon has already pushed back the date for TESO on XBox One and PS 4

A look at the first 4 months of TESO and why everything will change

The situation is tricky for Zenimax one way or another. And no one has made a sound about how to handle it. Nobody knows how the porting to the consoles is progressing or how much capacity the current major changes to the PC game are taking away from the console port.

The online retailer Amazon has already set the provisional release date for both consoles to March 31, 2015. Amazon has adjusted the forecast and considers the first quarter of 2015 to be more likely than the last quarter of 2014. We are starting to think so too. Therefore, in our opinion, console fans should prepare for the fact that TESO will not be available on XBox One or Playstation 4 by Christmas.