Zenimax Online had already announced it: From this year there are no more extensions in the usual sense. At the ESO Direct, the studio now presented the new plans for the future.
For 2025, Zenimax Online had already promised that some will change online in the Elder Scrolls. However, the motivation to keep the venerable MMO alive in view of over 26 million players is unbroken. Under the motto "You Belong here", the studio wants to bring a fresh air back into the game and has made up for a lot.
This is shown by the fact that Champions Cyrodiil breathes new life into the PvP battles that are revised tutorials, as well as a renovation of the starting areas and new features for returners. However, it is much more important that Zenimax throws the previous concept of annual extensions (traditionally in June) overboard and wants to act more flexibly in the future. Sure, you want to distribute away from the one-month thrust of players to the release of the add-ons and the content.
For this purpose, a new model should serve that you have a content pass instead of an extension, the content of which is recorded in several sections. But don't worry, the content of the Content Pass should be similar to a full extension. It should also be mentioned that the Content Pass will not be part of ESO Plus, but how an expansion needs to be purchased separately.
From June, the new story should start, which revolves around the worm cult and continues the original story from 2014. Sayed worm cult pose revenge and spreads in the new area of the solstice, a region characterized by high elves and Argonians with a lot of Caribbean flair and dense jungles as well as daedian ruins. The cult has built a new basis there and spreads, among other things with the aim of taking the capital Sonnhafen by siege.
This has to be prevented from the side of many well-known characters such as Razum-Dar, Skordo, Gabrielle, Vanus and many more. You not only step on the cult, but also new Daedra creatures like a feathered Behemoth.
The story is divided into several sections. In June, update 46 The first part of the new campaign in the west of the new area starts, coupled with a new 12-player test. In late summer there should be a server -handling event, in which you have to break down a barrier of the cult that extends across the area. In the fourth quarter, the second part of the new campaign, in which you have to penetrate the east and have to combat the origin of the cult. The prologue quest for the new adventures is already available.
Regardless of the Content Pass, Update 46 introduces a new mechanics for all players, namely subclasses. This enables you to use skill lines of other classes and to design completely new hybrids. Instead of seven classes, there are up to 3,000 or more combinations according to Zenimax. How exactly this works is to be presented. The only thing that is certain is that you cannot cherish individual skills as desired, but only complete lines. In addition, the skills from these lines will cost more skill points. Anyone who already has several characters has relatively quick access to those who only play one character must complete some quests.
Apart from that, Zenimax Online has other to-dos on the list. The user interface of the PC version is to be revised, new features for guild management are planned and other aspects such as struggle or areas are also on the list for revisions. The PvP system is also to be screwed on with new test phases.
Zenimax Online shows the courage to change and modernize the game, to wait, how the new content model will arrive at the fans and whether the goal is achieved to keep the number of players high over a longer period of time and not only to release an extension.
