The Elder Scrolls Online Hits 8.5 Million Players
By Weston Albert 26 February 2017
When The Elder Scrolls Online first debuted in 2014, it did so to generally negative reviews; however, after continued expansions and updates to the game, it appears that developer ZeniMax Online Studios have turned it around. According to the game’s director, The Elder Scrolls Online has sold 8.5 million copies.
Matt Firor, game director at ZeniMax, told MMORPG.com at a press event for the game that the game has grown, selling 1.5 million copies since last year’s E3. According to Firor, those copies are split fairly evenly across the three platforms it is available on, those being PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Considering ESO is an MMO, many might think that the 8.5 million tally is simply a count of the number of registered players, but Firor claims this is not the case. The count only includes sold copies of the game, which suggests that there are even more players registered in ZeniMax Online Studios’ game.
That’s good news for Zenimax and for Bethesda Softworks, who is the publisher for the game, especially with a new expansion, Morrowind, coming this summer. Given the popularity of Morrowind among older Elder Scrolls fans there is the potential that the upcoming expansion could drive up sales even more, if it is able to bring a new group of fans to the game.
Unfortunately since it is still early, there aren’t too many details available for the expansion, outside of the fact it takes players back to the lands of fan-favorite The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind. Bethesda’s RPG game won a ton of Game of the Year awards in 2002, so it’s likely to draw some longtime fans of the original RPG to the MMORPG.
What gamers do know is that the Morrowind expansion will add a “massive new zone, showcasing familiar locations from The Elder Scrolls 3 like Seyda Neen and Vivec City,” new enemies, armor, weapons, and encounters, plus the new Warden player class.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind expansion will launch on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One starting June 6.
