Unionised Bethesda Games Studios staff embroiled in Microsoft's latest round of mass layoffs have expressed further doubts about the company's ability to create games at the "quality level" of the very bestest Elder Scrolls and Fallout projects, as they continue to haggle with Mi
Unionised Bethesda Games Studios staff embroiled in Microsoft's latest round of mass layoffs have expressed further doubts about the company's ability to create games at the "quality level" of the very bestest Elder Scrolls and Fallout projects, as they continue to haggle with Microsoft over severance terms.
Earn up to 20 Crown Crates free during a new Golden Pursuits campaign! Straight to the Crate Earn up to 20 free Crown Crates during the new Straight to the Crate Golden Pursuits campaign, now live and continuing until September 17, 2026 . Check out the milestone rewards you can u
Earn up to 20 Crown Crates free during a new Golden Pursuits campaign!
Straight to the Crate
Earn up to 20 free Crown Crates during the new Straight to the Crate Golden Pursuits campaign, now live and continuing until September 17, 2026. Check out the milestone rewards you can unlock during this timeframe, simply by playing the game:
Complete four activities—5 Xanmeer Crown Crates
Complete nine activities—5 Wraithtide Crown Crates
At a glance, it may seem like 18 is a lot of activities to complete to unlock all 20 crates. However, for this campaign, the activities were designed to be achievable for ESO players of all stripes. For example, there are activities that challenge you to complete quests, catch fish, defeat foes, or clear public dungeons. Visit the Golden Pursuits section of the in-game Activity Finder to check out the full list of Straight to the Crate’s activities and get to it!
Crown Store Update If you like the contents of the free crates and would like to acquire more, all four variations will also be available for purchase with crowns from the in-game Crown Store at various periods throughout the campaign.
Diamond Anniversary Crates: 8/20 - 9/17
Scalecaller Crates: 8/27 - 9/17
Wraithtide Crates: 9/3 - 9/17
Xanmeer Crates: 9/10 - 9/24
Enjoy “Crate” Rewards
Crown Crates have a chance to contain some of ESO’s most flashy and fun collectibles and items, and we’re thrilled to give you even more ways to unlock and open these valuable containers. Are you excited to get started earning those free crates? Let us know via Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook.
The Straight to the Crate Golden Pursuits campaign is now live and runs until September 17, 2026.
Enjoy access to the Craft Bag, DLCs, and more with ESO Plus free for a limited time! ESO Plus Free Trial The ESO Plus Trial is now live and continues until August 27 at 10AM EST . During this limited-time promotion, you can enjoy a vast collection of benefits designed to augment
Enjoy access to the Craft Bag, DLCs, and more with ESO Plus free for a limited time!
ESO Plus Free Trial
The ESO Plus Trial is now live and continues until August 27 at 10AM EST. During this limited-time promotion, you can enjoy a vast collection of benefits designed to augment your adventures in Tamriel’s Second Era. These benefits include:
Full access to over 30 DLC game packs—new zones, quests, dungeons, and more
Includes 30 group dungeons and systems such as Antiquities and Tales of Tribute
A Craft Bag providing unlimited storage for all your crafting materials
Double Bank space for all characters on your account
10% increase to experience, gold, and Archival Fortune acquisition, crafting inspiration, Alliance Points, Tel Var Stones, and trait research rates
Double furnishings and collectibles space in player housing
Exclusive ability to dye costumes
Double Transmute Crystal storage
A 10% increase to Tome Points earned from challenges
An increase to Antiquity system Lead times
Getting Started Ready to try out ESO Plus for free? Follow the steps below to get started:
Log into The Elder Scrolls Online
Navigate to the Crown Store
Select the ESO Plus tab
Select “Free Trial!”
Once you’ve activated your trial, all the benefits listed above will be available to you until August 27. Please note that the free trial does not grant access to the regular ESO Plus crowns stipend nor the Companions introduced in base-game Update 44, Blackwood, High Isle, or Necrom Chapters.
Acquire ESO Plus If you wish to enjoy ESO Plus benefits beyond the trial period, you can pick up full membership, including monthly crown stipends, exclusive in-game deals, and more via our ESO Plus page. To learn more, check out our ESO Plus guide.
If you do own a full (paid) ESO Plus membership, you can also acquire the Pyrodraconic Camel-Lizard mount for free from now until September 3. This ESO Plus-specific mount was first available for members back in 2024, but we’re happy to bring it back for this unique window. Set Tamriel aflame with the ESO Plus membership mount
To claim your free mount, visit the Crown Store with your ESO Plus membership active and find it within the Mounts category. As a reminder, this molten mount is only available for paid ESO Plus members. Trial accounts will not be able to claim it.
Tamriel, Plus!
Store more items, discover more adventures, and earn even more rewards with the ESO Plus free trial, now available for a limited time. Are you excited to enjoy the benefits of membership at no cost? Let us know via Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook.
The ESO Plus Free Trial is now live and will run until 10AM EDT on Tuesday, August 27, 2026.
Hi All. Below is a message from the combat team, touching on some of the feedback we've seen over the last two weeks of PTS. ______________________________________________________ Greetings! This week the combat team has an update relating to some upcoming changes we’ll be pushin
Hi All. Below is a message from the combat team, touching on some of the feedback we've seen over the last two weeks of PTS.
______________________________________________________ Greetings! This week the combat team has an update relating to some upcoming changes we’ll be pushing to the PTS for Update 51. Before we get into the juicy details, we’ll quickly talk about general sentiments we’ve seen that have led us here, as these changes are in direct response to your PTS feedback and were not originally planned.
Firstly, we’ve seen a good deal of feedback on the state of PvP regarding both Dragonknight and Werewolf, and their prevalence and often dominance in that space. Part of this is inevitable by nature of them getting their refreshes before others, but this has clearly been a frustrating experience that has diminished much of the benefits that Class Mastery has introduced (at least in the PvP setting). While we did make a targeted set of changes on the PTS that made sustaining more challenging for Werewolves, we did not make a larger effort to reel in some of the spikiest bits (namely their burst and sustain) of the Dragonknight kit – which we’ve heard loud and clear that this is a priority issue you’d like us to address (and you will see some of that below).
Additionally, on the PvE side of things, we’re happy to see many of you enjoying the Class Mastery system – it’s clearly been a healthy shake up for the meta in that part of the game and we’re still seeing data rapidly change every few weeks, meaning things have far from settled. This is originally why we had combat balance adjustments very light. There’s still much to discover and optimize, and we didn’t want to disrupt that so soon after the experience came out; however, similarly to PvP, we’ve seen a lot of push back about classes that don’t win as much as you’d like and concern that they will feel left in the dust for a considerable amount of time. With the short turn-around we have, it isn’t possible to rectify every issue or make large changes, but we have devised a handful of smaller, numbers-based adjustments that will hopefully help out the classes that feel a little more is needed to get them up to speed with the others.
Coming in next week’s PTS patch, you can expect the following adjustments:
Dragonknight
Core of Flame will restore 12% missing resources, down from 15%. Heart of Flame’s healing has also been reduced by 20%.
Landslide now generates slightly quicker, stacks slightly higher (12 stacks), and decays slower, reducing how “swingy” the class can feel at times.
Earthspike Mantle’s flat damage done bonus is now damage done to monsters, to offset the buff to Landslide in PvP.
Seething Fury (Molten Whip’s buff) is now halved in PvP, reducing how deadly their burst combos can be.
Power Lash (augment to Flame Lash) deals less outright damage, but now offers a minor bonus to damage done to monsters after generating charges, to also reduce their burst potential.
Templar
Balanced Warrior’s math formula is now more complicated, but more rewarding. It has no cap and rewards the slotting of Templar skills in addition to scaling with Armor, helping it be better for Templars, while staying around the same power for non-Templars.
Judgment’s Brand’s damage bonus has been increased slightly (1600 bonus damage, up from 1400, still halved in PvP).
Aetheric Lancer’s area effect now generates on you when it activates, provided you are not moving (rather than spawning randomly around you.) This rewards the Templar who holds their ground with relentless damage.
Nightblade
Strife now grants a unique damage bonus that increases your damage done by 1% for every 10% Health you have, while it is active.
We’ve also seen pushback on the cost increases, which we are still evaluating further adjustments to. We’re very cautious to reintroduce the skill to the same degree of power it was in the Summerset era.
Necromancer
Nothing Wasted now decays less aggressively (loses 2 stacks instead of 3) but decays every 12 seconds of not generating a corpse, rather than 15 seconds. This is mostly a cadence tweak to help reduce how punishing it feels in some encounters.
Pummeling Goliath’s bash attack will now have a 1-second cooldown, but deals ~73% more damage on hit, helping smooth out how strong the Ultimate is. This is mainly aimed at correcting the need to double bash weave, which we know isn’t particularly fun. Bash weaving is hard enough! This will nerf some of the ceiling potential, which we’re also okay with based on their logs.
Frozen Colossus will deal more damage (12.5% more) and cost less (150 Ultimate) for the update, while we work on long-term changes. We will ultimately revert these in a future update for a more PvE-targeted approach, as the Ultimate isn’t weak in PvP as it stands now.
Warden: We’re currently still amid the refresh, which has made improvements here very difficult. These are not indicative of where we’d like the Warden to end up, but change here is much more restrictive for that reason.
Fetcher Infection will deal slightly more damage (75%, up from 60%) every other cast
Arctic Blast will deal more damage over time (~20% per tick)
Miscellaneous
Draugrkin’s Healing reduction now is halved in PvP, since its bonus is halved, so it’s less punishing to use after being reduced. We’ve also updated the 2- and 4-piece bonus to Weapon and Spell Damage, instead of those stinky other stat lines.
We’re still interested in updating stat lines for old sets like you saw us work on in Update 49, and will do so as time and bandwidth allow for smaller efforts such as this.
Ice Comet does more damage over time (~21%), helping it climb up the mountain of distance between it and Shooting Star. It also now snares enemies whenever it deals any damage, rather than only the initial hit, helping keep enemies inside its lingering area.
The usual bug fixes and tooltip updates!
While we will continue to monitor feedback based on these adjustments, as Nick outlined in his letter, we want to focus on quality experiences over calendar dates so these efforts may take us longer than before. That being said, we’ll continue to take note of the sentiments and desires for future updates, and continue to search for ways to take smaller, more targeted approaches like this as the march of time continues. Thank you all for your support and patience – we know it isn’t always easy! See you in Tamriel – until then, safe journeys!
ESO’s premier PvP event returns with a refit this August, granting bolstered rewards for Tamriel’s warriors. Bring Glory to Pelinal Arm yourself with your best PvP gear and gather your strongest allies! The Whitestrake’s Mayhem in-game event has returned and is now live from Augu
ESO’s premier PvP event returns with a refit this August, granting bolstered rewards for Tamriel’s warriors.
Bring Glory to Pelinal
Arm yourself with your best PvP gear and gather your strongest allies! The Whitestrake’s Mayhem in-game event has returned and is now live from August 5 until August 12. During this event period, as you duke it out with your fellow players in the Battlegrounds, Alliance War, and Imperial City, you can earn bonus rewards, including:
100% boost to Experience Point gains in Battlegrounds, Imperial City, and Alliance War
100% boost to Alliance Point gains in Battlegrounds, Imperial City, and Alliance War
100% boost to Tel Var Stone gains in the Imperial City
Pelinal’s Boon Boxes, a special event reward box
If you’re eager to progress your rank in ESO’s Veterancy system, there’s no better time to jump in and unlock unique rewards.
Join the Fight
To get started, simply jump into an Alliance War campaign, take part in a Battlegrounds match, or enter the Imperial city. You do not need to do anything to activate the bonus XP, Alliance Points, or Tel Var Stones—just jump into the fight!
If you wish, you can acquire the introductory quest available for free from the Crown Store titled “Whitestrake’s Mayhem” and speak to Predicant Maera. Prepare to honor Pelinal
You might have noticed that this new version of Whitestrake’s Mayhem is shorter than previous versions. These “One-Week Whitestrake’s” are intended to pop up more frequently throughout the year (with the next one tentatively scheduled for November) and have some design changes to reflect this new regularity. We will continue to share our plans and changes related to Whitestrake’s as we move forward, but until then, glory awaits!
Battle for Boons
As you clash with other players in PvP, you can earn Pelinal’s Boon Boxes in addition to your regular rewards. Activities that reward Boon Boxes this event include:
Completing the introductory quest
Recieving a Rewards for the Worthy mail
Additional rewards for certain PvP repeatable quests
Board mission repeatable quests
Town repeatable quests
Battlegrounds repeatable quests
Imperial City repeatable quests
When you seize a Pelinal’s Boon Box, it always contains Tel Var Stones, but it also has a chance to contain the following rewards:
One of three different items required for the Colovian War Torte recipe and its variations (with various levels of extreme rarity)
More details on the Colovian War Torte recipe and its upgrades below!
Breton Terrier Mammoth Bones (rare)
Fragments for the Alliance Breton Terrier pet
Crafting materials
On rare occasions, including ingredients for War Tortes
Transmute Crystals
Coldharbour siege weapons
Hakeijo Runestone, for use in Prismatic Glyphs
Books of Pelinal housing items
PvP consumables such as repair kits, forward camps, and siege weapons
Outfit style pages and style items for the Alliance and Akaviri styles
Unbound outfit style pages for Tava's Goshawk, Truth in Wisdom, Arkay Unending Cycle, Ayleid Lich, Dovah's Du'ul, and Sancre Tor Sentry
Earn fragments for a classic pet
Colovian War Torte
As mentioned above, each Pelinal's Boon Box has an extremely rare chance to drop items related to the Colovian War Torte, including the base recipe, Chef Arquitius's Torte Dissertation, or Chef Arquitius's Lost Thesis. The dissertation and thesis are even more rarely seen than the recipe (consider them a jackpot). These in turn can be combined and consumed to give you the ability to craft the base Colovian War Torte, the Molten War Torte, or the White-Gold War Torte at a cookfire.
Colovian War Torte
Grants a 50% boost to Alliance Point gains for 30 minutes
Molten War Torte
Combine a Colovian War Torte recipe with the Arquitius's Dissertation to make the Molten War Torte recipe (which you can then consume to learn how to craft it)
Grants a 100% boost to Alliance Point gains for 30 minutes
White-Gold War Torte
Combine a Molten War Torte recipe with the Chef Arquitius's Lost Thesis to make the White-Gold War Torte recipe (which you can then consume to learn how to craft it)
Grants a 150% boost to Alliance Point gains for 30 minutes
Phew! Note that these items have long been available from various PvP-specific sources, but for the Whitestrake’s Mayhem event, you can now also get them from Boon Boxes. As stated numerous times above, they’re extremely rare, so good luck!
Moving forward, any and all new event rewards are included in Boon Boxes, ensuring you can earn the latest and greatest no matter what PvP mode you enjoy most.
Event Merchants
During the Whitestrake’s Mayhem event, a host of merchants are available to combatants, all hoping to profit from Tamriel’s various PvP conflicts. Don’t forget that this event and these merchants are live only from August 5 until August 12.
The Golden
The Golden merchant Adhazabi Aba-daro returns with a full stock of CP160 legendary-quality rings, while her assistant sells amulets of the same quality. Note that both vendors accept only Alliance Points in exchange for their goods. The Golden vendor returns
The Impresario
The Impresario has returned for this week-long event, but this time she stocks only a collection of previous Whitestrake’s Mayhem rewards. Examples include the Ebonsteel Knight style pages, Gloamsedge style pages, the Sancre Tor Sentry Armor style pages, and many more. Please note that while these items are available for Trade Bars, this event does not reward Trade Bars in itself. Acquire past event rewards
Furthermore, the Impresario’s assistant, Philius Dormer, also stocks a series of PvP rewards, such as the Alliance Standard-Bearer’s License, Legion Zero style pages, and more. Some of Philius Dormer’s rewards are available for Alliance Points, while you can exchange Trade Bars for others .
To see the full collection of available rewards from the Impresario and her assistant, visit them in game!
As a final reminder, the leaner, meaner version of this in-game event no longer rewards Trade Bars (formerly known as Event Tickets).
Make Mayhem
The refitted and restyled Whitestrake’s Mayhem is live, and from now until August 12, expect the Battlegrounds, Alliance War, and Imperial City PvP conflicts to heat up as players of all stripes and styles clash. Are you ready to accelerate your PvP progression and battle your fellow players? Let us know via Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook.
The Whitestrake’s Mayhem in-game event is live from August 5 until August 12.
Aromatic awards await as you quest with Sheogorath and complete activities this August! Golden Pursuits—Sheogorath Takes a Holiday (July 29–August 12) Sheogorath’s own Golden Pursuits campaign continues! Complete Golden Pursuits activities (primarily by playing the new Sheogorath
Aromatic awards await as you quest with Sheogorath and complete activities this August!
Golden Pursuits—Sheogorath Takes a Holiday (July 29–August 12) Sheogorath’s own Golden Pursuits campaign continues! Complete Golden Pursuits activities (primarily by playing the new Sheogorath questline) to earn gold, armor, and a unique customized action themed after the Daedric Prince himself. Complete Uncle Sheo’s quests to unlock new rewards
Bethesda’s 40th Anniversary Reward (July 30-August 13) There’s still time to claim the Bethesda 40th Anniversary reward! Enter the code Bethesda40 to unlock 2,000 Trade Bars (sent directly to your in-game mail). This code will only work during the promotion window, so don’t hesitate to claim it ASAP!
Bethesda’s 40th Anniversary Sale (July 30-August 13) If you’re interested in taking your first steps into Tamriel’s Second Era or would like to upgrade your version of ESO, you can pick up the game on sale as part of Bethesda’s birthday celebrations. Note that sale details will differ based on platform and product, so check out this blog for all the details. Celebrate and save with us!
Update 51 on PTS1 (Public Test Server) (August 3)
Help us test future Season One and Season Two content on the PC/Mac Public Test Server. Put new solo content and in-game events through their paces and look ahead at some of the adventures to come.
Whitestrake’s Mayhem Event (August 5-12) Clash with your fellow players in Cyrodiil, the Imperial City, and Battlegrounds to earn bonus Alliance Points, Experience Points, and Tel Var Stones. Fragments of the Colovian War Torte recipe are also up for grabs—go bring honor to the Star-Made Knight! Note that this event no longer grants Trade Bars.
Deathmatch Battleground Spotlight (August 19-26) August’s PvP action continues deeper into the month with a Battlegrounds Spotlight mini event. Earn bonus XP and AP as your team goes straight for the kill in the Deathmatch game mode!
Golden Pursuits—Straight to the Crate (August 20-September 17) If you enjoy a cheeky Crown Crate or two, you’ll love this new Straight to the Crate Golden Pursuits campaign. Complete a wide variety of activities and you can earn up to 20 free crates by the campaign’s end. Look for more info regarding this campaign when it kicks off on August 20. Earn up to 20 Crown Crates!
An August Month
Whether you’re escorting a Daedric Prince or battling your fellow players, this August brings a ton of new (and ongoing) reasons to log in and play. What are your plans for this month’s time in Tamriel? How are you enjoying Season One thus far? Let us know via Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook.
Bethesda Softworks is turning 40, and we’re celebrating with a new sale AND a code for free Trade Bars! Bethesda Turns 40! Happy Birthday to Bethesda! Congratulations for 40 years of developing and publishing amazing video games, including our beloved Elder Scrolls series. As par
Bethesda Softworks is turning 40, and we’re celebrating with a new sale AND a code for free Trade Bars!
Bethesda Turns 40!
Happy Birthday to Bethesda! Congratulations for 40 years of developing and publishing amazing video games, including our beloved Elder Scrolls series. As part of the celebration, we invite all ESO players to redeem a unique, limited-time in-game code:
“Bethesda40” To claim this reward, redeem the code above via your ESO account page or via the Redeem Reward Code in-game option (within the Crown Store) before August 12, 2026. Note that there is a limit of one redemption per account, and total redemptions are limited.
Once redeemed, you will be awarded a whopping 2,000 Trade Bars, allowing you to pick from a host of rewards in Season One’s Gold Coast Bazaar. That’s enough Trade Bars to acquire items like the Alchemy houseguest or the Ascendant Lord Statue furnishing, so don’t miss out! Use Trade Bars to choose your birthday rewards!
Anniversary Sale
In addition to the reward code, both The Elder Scrolls Online Standard and Deluxe Editions are now on sale for select platforms. If you’ve yet to explore Tamriel’s Second Era, you can acquire the Standard Edition at up to 75% off. If you’d like to dive even deeper into the game’s many worlds, you can pick up the Deluxe Edition at up to 50% off (PC platforms only) instead!
The Elder Scrolls Online Standard Edition offers the full ESO base game, which includes five of the game’s classes (Sorcerer, Nightblade, Templar, Dragonknight, and Warden), 27 unique zones to explore, and access to ESO’s PvP game modes such as Battlegrounds and the Alliance War.
The Elder Scrolls Online Deluxe Edition includes everything from the Standard Edition as well as a collection of content from past Chapters and the 2025 Content Pass, unlocking 10 years of great stories all at once.
Platform Sale Information
Check out the dates listed below to know when the sale will be live on your platform of choice, including specific editions:
Steam Store
Standard Edition—July 30-August 13
Deluxe Edition—July 30-August 13
Elder Scrolls Online Store
Standard Edition—July 30-August 13
Deluxe Edition—July 30-August 13
Visit our Buy Now page now and select your edition and platform to get started!
Don’t forget, both the gift redemption window and the sale are available for a limited time only, so don’t hesitate to log in and explore Tamriel with us as we celebrate Bethesda Softworks’ incredible new milestone. Happy birthday, Bethesda!
New ZeniMax Online Studios co-head Nick Giacomini says that despite deep cuts at the studio as part of the most recent round of Xbox layoffs, The Elder Scrolls Online "is here to stay." But those layoffs, which saw more than 200 people let go including Giacomini's predecessor Jos
New ZeniMax Online Studios co-head Nick Giacomini says that despite deep cuts at the studio as part of the most recent round of Xbox layoffs, The Elder Scrolls Online "is here to stay." But those layoffs, which saw more than 200 people let go including Giacomini's predecessor Joseph Burba, mean that previously announced timelines are no longer workable, and things are being moved... Read more.
Read a community letter from Nick Giacomini about upcoming adjustments, Season updates, and our commitment to the future of ESO. When we announced Seasons in January, we promised you a new era of transparency. Part of that promise is being open with you as our studio evolves. Rec
Read a community letter from Nick Giacomini about upcoming adjustments, Season updates, and our commitment to the future of ESO.
When we announced Seasons in January, we promised you a new era of transparency. Part of that promise is being open with you as our studio evolves.
Recently, we've been through a number of organizational changes and departures of teammates who helped shape The Elder Scrolls Online. We are profoundly grateful for everything they've contributed to the game and the community we've built together.
At the same time, we've seen a lot of questions about what these changes mean for ESO. So let me be clear: ESO is here to stay, and our team is dedicated to the future of this game. Our focus hasn't changed. It is continuing to grow The Elder Scrolls Online and build upon the world millions of players call home.
Moving forward, I'll be leading the studio alongside longtime ZOS veteran Josh Henderson. You'll hear more from Josh soon, but I want you to know that our shared passion for ESO remains as strong as ever. We love this world, we love this community, and the fire in our team to continue building it burns just as fiercely today as it always has.
We're also entering a new chapter of collaboration across Bethesda. By working more closely with Bethesda Game Studios across The Elder Scrolls, we have new opportunities to share ideas, align our efforts, and create even better experiences for players, all while continuing to build the future of ESO.
EVOLVING OUR PLANS
We’ve said this before: a core part of our philosophy is ensuring that the time you invest in ESO always feels rewarding. And with the recent changes to our studio, trying to hit our previously announced deadlines would mean sacrificing the quality you deserve. Therefore, we are establishing a clear principle for how we build and ship content and features moving forward: quality experiences over calendar dates.
Instead of rushing to hit a previously announced deadline, we are giving our teams the runway they need to do things right. Some of our upcoming additions, like the Class and Combat Refresh and our new Trial, are highly complex, and we want to ensure they hit the mark before we put them in your hands.
Because of this, we have had to make the decision to move the following features into 2027:
The new trial, Crimson Veldt. We’re pushing boundaries with this trial, including mounted combat that we think you’ll love, and we simply need more time to ensure the experience exceeds your expectations.
Update 52 will move to January of 2027. We expect this to include the launch of the Jerall Pass PvP zone and Skyrim’s Dynamic Encounters: Rimegales.
For the Class and Combat refresh, we are targeting 2027 for the next refresh. However, we are discussing some interim options for the classes still awaiting their full refresh to improve your player experience in the meantime.
We know it’s disappointing to see some features move out, and believe me, we want to get these into your hands as soon as possible, too. But we believe this is the right move for the long-term health of the game.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2026
While those specific features are shifting, the rest of our 2026 roadmap remains packed. Here is what you can expect from our upcoming Seasons.
Season One Update 51 will now launch one week later, on September 28, and it will include:
A new challenge: The Nowhere Vault
A new game system: Rumors
Player experience improvements: Achievement pinning, Customizable HUD (on keyboard platforms), Hybridization, Antiquities improvements, Transmute Stations in Cyrodiil, and multiple quality-of-life updates like Housing Tab Sorter, Quest Starter Language, and Eidetic Memory improvements
Everything else in Season One will run as planned, along with a few additions to thank you for your patience:
Live now: New Sheogorath story quests and Golden Pursuit
August 5-12: Whitestrake’s Mayhem event
August 20-September 17: A brand-new Golden Pursuit campaign called “Straight to the Crate,” where you can earn up to 20 free Crown Crates
September 30-October 14: The new High Seas of Tamriel event
And three-sided Battlegrounds will return permanently on September 28, with Update 51
Season Two Launching October 21, 2026, Season Two will feature:
Solo Dungeons: Moon Hunter Keep and March of Sacrifices.
To celebrate the launch of Solo Dungeons, we’ve decided to make the group versions of these dungeons free for all players on October 12, 2026.
The Greymoor Chapter and Markarth DLC will become free for all players on November 9, 2026.
We’re adding a new Golden Pursuit to highlight Skyrim and the (now available to everyone) Antiquities system from November 9 to December 2.
Improvements to the Tamriel Tome, including expanded Challenges for broader playstyles, higher Tome Point rollover cap, and more.
Frost Atronach crate rewards will be available in the Gold Coast Bazaar.
Witches Festival and the New Life Festival events will return as usual.
CONTINUING TO GROW ESO WITH YOU
We’ve had bumps in the road over our 12-year history that we’ve always faced together. As our studio evolves, we are not looking to just “maintain” the game. We are looking to grow it. You, our community, are the reason we have grown over the years, and we want to keep growing with you.
Moving forward, our principles are simple: we will continue to build fun and rewarding experiences through our Seasonal model, deliver long-standing player-requested features and changes that make Tamriel more fulfilling, and find new ways to provide you with features and content to keep your adventures fresh.
As we finalize our plans through 2027 and beyond, we’re still hard at work bringing you all-new experiences in Skyrim, never before seen in The Elder Scrolls Online. We’ll be showing you more of this content over the coming months.
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: ESO is nothing without you, our community. Thank you for your continued dedication, your feedback, and your support.
Season One’s Sheogorath Takes a Holiday questline is now live with an accompanying Golden Pursuits campaign to boot. Learn about the new storyline and bonus rewards you can earn as you play! Sheogorath Takes a Holiday Season One’s second new story questline, Sheogorath Takes a Ho
Season One’s Sheogorath Takes a Holiday questline is now live with an accompanying Golden Pursuits campaign to boot. Learn about the new storyline and bonus rewards you can earn as you play!
Sheogorath Takes a Holiday
Season One’s second new story questline, Sheogorath Takes a Holiday, is now live on all platforms and is free for all ESO players. In this series of six new story quests, you must help Noth the Unhinged and her master Sheogorath as they tour Tamriel, sample the continent’s finest cheeses, and experience mortal life. However, dark forces rally against the Lord of Madness and seek to capitalize on his newfound vulnerability—surely even Daedric Princes deserve a break sometime!
To get started, acquire the opening quest, titled “Sheogorath Takes a Holiday” free from the in-game Crown Store, or find Noth the Unhinged at the following locations:
Baandari Trading Post in Malabal Tor
Windhelm in Eastmarch
Sentinel in Alik’r Desert
Complete the questline, and you’ll find yourself blessed with new rewards, including the Sheogorath’s Blessed Cheese emote and the Mad God’s Tomeshell pet. Transform with a cheesy new emote
Golden Pursuits
Also going live with the launch of the new questline is a special Golden Pursuits campaign. The Sheogorath Takes a Holiday campaign runs from July 29 until August 12 and introduces a suite of new rewards for those exploring Tamriel with the Prince of Madness.
These rewards include:
Complete four activities—10,000 Gold
Complete eight activities—Dramaturge’s Delirium head style
Complete 15 activities—Runegathering of the Mad God customized action
Earn stupendous new rewards!
To claim these rewards, you can complete a vast array of unique activities, all related to the new storyline. Jump into the game and visit the Golden Pursuits section of the in-game Activity Finder to check out the full list of this campaign’s activities.
Assist the Lord of Madness
The Sovereign of the Shivering Isles needs you! The new Sheogorath Takes a Holiday questline is now live as part of Season One and is free for all ESO players. Are you excited to encounter Uncle Sheo again? Let us know via Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook.
Following Microsoft's mass layoffs , The Elder Scrolls Online has ended up in a transitional period while remaining staff work to forge a path forwards. If you want evidence of effects the cuts are already starting to have on the MMO, look no further than its Crown Store. Read mo
Earlier this month, Microsoft gutted The Elder Scrolls Online , with 379 staff across ZeniMax gone . And this is the second time it's happened in two years. As Harvey and I put it a few weeks ago, ESO's developers deserved better . The developer, now claiming to be the same size
A fresh report has shed light on what played out behind the scenes last week as Microsoft laid off around 1600 people and parted ways with a number of studios. While news of the various affects the cuts have had on specific studios still under the Xbox banner since that pint, the
A fresh report has shed light on what played out behind the scenes last week as Microsoft laid off around 1600 people and parted ways with a number of studios. While news of the various affects the cuts have had onspecificstudios still under the Xbox banner since that pint, the report also paints a damning picture of the effect these layoffs and the ones which still loom have had on the mindset of remaining workers, with unclear goals having contributed to a situation whereby staff feel they're disposable regardless of what they make.
s reported by Massively OP , senior developers at ZeniMax Online Studios said that the company has returned to its circa 2015-2018 headcount, before it staffed up for the development of canceled MMO Blackbird. The estimate is similar to one recently proffered by id Software in a
s reported by Massively OP, senior developers at ZeniMax Online Studios said that the company has returned to its circa 2015-2018 headcount, before it staffed up for the development of canceled MMO Blackbird. The estimate is similar to one recently proffered by id Software in a statement on X, "The Everything App.".. Read more.
I'm somewhat prone to pessimism in this column, though that's not without cause. MMOs aren't exactly a dying breed, per se—we've got Guild Wars 3 to look forward to, and most of the old guard, while a little grey in the beard, have respectable playerbases and are thrumming with t
I'm somewhat prone to pessimism in this column, though that's not without cause. MMOs aren't exactly a dying breed, per se—we've got Guild Wars 3 to look forward to, and most of the old guard, while a little grey in the beard, have respectable playerbases and are thrumming with things to do... Read more.
For the first time ever, seasonal content is here for The Elder Scrolls Online. Return of the Thieves Guild, its inaugural season, has launched for the long-running MMO, something you'd expect fans would be all abuzz for—if not for the fact that ZeniMax Online Studios has been gu
For the first time ever, seasonal content is here for The Elder Scrolls Online. Return of the Thieves Guild, its inaugural season, has launched for the long-running MMO, something you'd expect fans would be all abuzz for—if not for the fact that ZeniMax Online Studios has been gutted as part of the mass layoffs at Xbox this week... Read more.
Pilfer Glenumbra with the Thieves Guild, explore Tamriel’s high seas, unravel new puzzles and mysteries, and discover even more challenges and adventure—there's something for everyone in The Elder Scrolls Online’s Season One. Season One: Return of the Thieves Guild is now live fo
Pilfer Glenumbra with the Thieves Guild, explore Tamriel’s high seas, unravel new puzzles and mysteries, and discover even more challenges and adventure—there's something for everyone in The Elder Scrolls Online’s Season One.
Season One: Return of the Thieves Guild is now live for all platforms (including PC/Mac, Xbox, and PlayStation) from July 8 until October 21. Introducing new adventures, challenges, and rewards free for all ESO players, Season One features the return of the Thieves Guild, sees Sheogorath enjoy a Tamrielic vacation, adds a new swashbuckling in-game event, and more.
As with all Seasons, the new gameplay features, improvements, and additions are completely free for all ESO players with no additional purchases required. Season One also introduces a new Tamriel Tome, with both free and paid (premium) options, and it updates the Gold Coast Bazaar reward store.
Note that not all of Season One’s features will be active at its launch, as many highlights will arrive at different times during the Season. Here’s a full timeline for what is coming as part of Season One:
Now live (as of July 8, 2026)
Thieves Guild Storyline
Favors system
Dynamic Encounters system
Season One Tamriel Tome
Gold Coast Bazaar update
Arriving later as part of Season One
Sheogorath Storyline
Arrives July 29
Nowhere Vault
Arrives September 21 with Update 51
Crimson Veldt 12-player trial
Arrives September 21 with Update 51
Rumors system
Arrives September 21 with Update 51
Player experience improvements
Arrives September 21 with Update 51
High Seas of Tamriel in-game event
Arrives September 30 and runs until October 14
In addition to the above, this Season will also feature the return of the Whitestrake’s Mayhem PvP event and host several Golden Pursuits campaigns. Look out for more details about them as the Season progresses.
Season One
As stated above, Season One gameplay features, systems, and improvements are free for all current ESO players (with the only exception being the Tamriel Tome premium options). Learn a little more about them below!
Thieves Guild Story Questline
Now live as of July 8 and available for all ESO players, the Thieves Guild needs your help establishing a foothold within Glenumbra. In this new questline, you must assist Quen as she shepherds the new guild chapter into existence while contending with the dangerous Koldane Cartel. Expect new story and daily quests in addition to unique rewards, including a special costume and mythic item! Gang Up in Glenumbra
To get started with the Thieves Guild questline, pick up the first quest, titled "Codex Caper” from the in-game Crown Store.
Favors System
Also arriving on July 8 with the launch of Season One, the Favors system is a new way to find adventure in Tamriel. Interact with new posting boards set up by the Freerunners within each Alliance to acquire a daily quest. Each daily quest is part of a larger story specific to the Alliance character who posted it, with 20 unique dailies available for each. Acquire new Favor daily quests
Dynamic Encounters
A new kind of in-game world event for overland zones, Dynamic Encounters are multi-stage experiences for all nearby participating players. With three unique Dynamic Encounters arriving when Season One launches on July 8, be on the lookout for trouble when exploring Glenumbra, Auridon, and Stonefalls—with more kinds of encounters coming in later Seasons, too.
Sheogorath Story Questline
Kicking off July 29 as part of Season One, Noth the Unhinged needs your help as her master Sheogorath, the Lord of Madness, embarks on a new trip (some might say vacation) throughout Tamriel. However, even the Daedric Prince of Madness is not without rivals, and it’s up to you to ensure a safe journey. Keep both eyes out for more details on this storyline in July! Sheogorath returns late July!
Crimson Veldt Trial
Ready your party and prepare to return to Hircine’s Hunting Grounds for the Crimson Veldt, a new 12-player PvE trial. Together with your allies, you must battle your way through the Crimson Veldt’s challenging encounters and boss battles and ultimately confront the lycanthropic hunters known as the First-Turned. This new group challenge includes mounted combat—the first of its kind for ESO! The Crimson Veldt trial will also go live as part of Update 51 and Season One on September 21.
Nowhere Vault
Located within a realm between realms, the Nowhere Vault is adrift, and Sage Voernet requires adventurers brave (or foolish) enough to delve into this mysterious place, solve its myriad puzzles, and navigate its ever-changing rooms. Great rewards await those willing to enter this perplexing solo experience. The Nowhere Vault will go live as part of Update 51 and Season One on September 21. Puzzle out the Nowhere Vault
Rumors System
Coming with Update 51 and Season One on September 21, the Rumors system is a new way to explore and discover the mysterious world of Tamriel. With Rumors, you will uncover non-linear hints throughout the world that, when collected, complete a story. If you enjoy scavenger hunts and solving mysteries, Tamriel has no shortage of Rumors to investigate!
Player Experience Improvements
Also arriving with Update 51 and Season One on September 21 are a host of new player experience improvements. This includes the concluding efforts of the team’s hybridization work, the first iteration on the HUD customization tool (PC only), and the ability to pin achievements as you adventure and explore.
High Seas of Tamriel
Setting sail as part of Season One and running from September 30 until October 14, the High Seas of Tamriel in-game event sets you on a voyage across the Abecean Sea where you’ll battle pirates ship-to-ship, explore the depths of the ocean floor, and dig up sunken treasure troves. Prepare for adventure on the high seas!
In addition to the above highlights, keep an eye out for additional in-game events and special Golden Pursuits campaigns throughout Season One—ensuring there’s no shortage of fun and rewards. Keep an eye on elderscrollsonline.com for more information on what’s to come throughout the Season.
Tamriel Tome and Gold Coast Bazaar
Season One also introduces a new Tamriel Tome and continues to update the Gold Coast Bazaar, bringing new and returning rewards for you to claim as you play.
Season One Tamriel Tome
With Season One’s Tamriel Tome, you can continue to unlock and acquire a roguish collection of items, currencies, and consumables. Like the previous Tome, this latest offering introduces a host of unlockable pages and items that include both free and paid (premium) options.
The free rewards found within this Season’s Tome include a huge number of Seals, Trade Bars, and Crown Crates in addition to collectibles such as the Golden Dwarven Spider pet and the Charming Rogue weapon style set.
Should you choose to acquire the Premium Tome or Premium Tome + Bonuses version, you gain access to even more rewards, including the Hew’s Bane Hyena mount, the Charming Rogue armor style set, Cambrio Zamme, Rooster in Exile assistant, and a lot more. Even better, the Premium Tome + Bonuses version also grants you two Caches of Tome Points and the Dawngold Corgi pet! Season One Premium Tome rewards and the bonus Dawngold Corgi pet
If you’re unfamiliar with how Tamriel Tomes work, as you adventure and quest, complete challenges to unlock Tome Points and pages. Use those points to then choose and acquire rewards from each page—what you select is up to you! For a complete guide on Tamriel Tomes, check out this page.
Season One’s challenges are designed to lean into this Season’s sneaky, PvE-friendly theme, but you will also more generally see a broader variety in seasonal challenges this time around too—enjoy!
For a deeper dive into the Season One Tamriel Tome, check out this preview.
Gold Coast Bazaar
This Season also sees a broad selection of items making their way to the Gold Coast Bazaar (in addition to the evergreen items already there). These goodies include returning mounts, furnishings, pets, costumes, and more.
For example, the Treasure Hunter’s Horse mount, and the Ascendant Lord Statue furnishing will each be available this Season, last seen in 2024 and 2022 respectively! Treasure Hunter Horse mount and Ascendant Lord Statue
There are over 30 individual items being added to the Gold Coast Bazaar with Season One, but they will be available only during this Season’s window—don’t miss out.
Don’t forget, to acquire any of these items, you need to spend Trade Bars, which are earned predominantly via your Tamriel Tome. Enjoy!
Season One is Live
Whether you’re a canny rogue looking for a new score, a fastidious scholar keen to investigate Tamriel’s myriad mysteries, or simply wish to find your next big adventure, Season One introduces a host of new quests, challenges, stories, and rewards, free for all ESO players.
Be on the lookout for more information on what’s to come as part of this new Season as it progresses and be sure to keep an eye out for returning events, special Golden Pursuits campaigns, and more. Are you excited to delve into The Elder Scrolls Online’s Season One? Let us know via Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook.
s reported by MMORPG , we now know the full scope of the layoffs at ZeniMax Online Studios (The Elder Scrolls Online) and ZeniMax Media, parent company of Bethesda Game Studios. A Maryland WARN Act notice shows 213 employees laid off from ZeniMax Online, and 166 from ZeniMax Medi
s reported by MMORPG, we now know the full scope of the layoffs at ZeniMax Online Studios (The Elder Scrolls Online) and ZeniMax Media, parent company of Bethesda Game Studios. A Maryland WARN Act notice shows 213 employees laid off from ZeniMax Online, and 166 from ZeniMax Media, for a total of 379... Read more.
Yesterday's layoffs at Xbox took, and will continue to take, a terrible toll. Some trumpeted the fact that no studios were closed, although the practical impact of spinning them out to independence or new ownership remains to be seen, but that has no bearing on the blow to morale
Yesterday's layoffs at Xbox took, and will continue to take, a terrible toll. Some trumpeted the fact that no studios were closed, although the practical impact of spinning them out to independence or new ownership remains to be seen, but that has no bearing on the blow to morale caused by such deep cuts to long-standing dev teams... Read more.
