Bethesda Delays The Elder Scrolls Online Console Versions

Bethesda released a statement to the public today, announcing a delay for the Xbox One and Playstation 4 versions of The Elder Scrolls Online.

Initially, the game was supposed to hit consoles sometime this June. However, the company has announced that they will need about six more months to “…ensure we deliver the experience our fans expect and deserve.” The issue stemmed from a “…series of unique problems specific to those platforms.” 

There is a trade-off to this distressing news, however. If you purchase the PC/Mac version of The Elder Scrolls Online before the end of June, you will receive a special offer to transfer your character to either console. 

Here is the full statement for your viewing pleasure:

We’ve been grateful to our fans for the wonderful response to our recent launch of The Elder Scrolls Online for PC/Mac, but we know many of you are eagerly waiting to play the game on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

We continue to work on the console versions of ESO, and game development has been progressing steadily, but we are still working to solve a series of unique problems specific to those platforms. Integrating our systems with each console manufacturer’s networks — which are both different from the PC/Mac system as well as different from each other — has been a challenging process. It has become clear that our planned June release of the console versions isn’t going to be possible.  Though we have made great progress, we have concluded that we’ll need about six months to ensure we deliver the experience our fans expect and deserve.

We know that the news of an ESO console delay is as disappointing to many of you as it is to us. We want to do what we can to make it up to our fans who want to start playing now, so we have worked out the following arrangement with Sony and Microsoft:

Via a special offer, anyone who purchases and plays the PC/Mac version of The Elder Scrolls Online by the end of June will have the opportunity to transfer their character(s) to either console version when they are released. The offer will allow you to begin playing immediately on the PC/Mac, and then add the PS4 or Xbox One version and transfer the character(s) you have created and developed. And, you don’t have to pay full price for the game twice. For $20/€14.99/£12.99/AU$20, eligible PC and Mac players will have the option to add a full, digital version of ESO on either the PS4 or the Xbox One with your character transfer(s), and another 30 days of included game time. 

Whether you decide to take advantage of this offer or not, we promise to do everything we can to get the game released on both consoles as quickly as we can. We will keep everyone updated with additional details regarding character transfers, specific offer dates, when you can expect console beta to start, and of course, when ESO on consoles will launch.

Thank you for your patience and loyal support.

Though this seems like good news, it raises a question: Why can’t players play the same character on every platform? Players will be required to purchase the console version of the game separately, at a discounted rate, to transfer their character. From their wording, it sounds like once you transfer your character to a console, you won’t be able to play that character on your PC/Mac again.

On another note, it seems intentional that Bethesda hasn’t added official controller support to the PC/Mac versions yet. It sounds like they want people to transfer over from PC to console to use a gamepad. The demand for the game on consoles is pretty high. The bulk of Skyrim players were on Xbox 360 and PS3, so naturally most of the fans of the series are waiting on the console versions.

The PC version has had a fair share of bugs as well. Though some can be fixed on your end with Stephanie’s guide. Perhaps the console versions will be more stable than the PC/Mac versions. 

The new target release date for The Elder Scrolls Online on Xbox One and Playstation 4 is somewhere around December of this year. Check back with us for more news on the matter!