Playing The Elder Scrolls Online will require a monthly subscription fee, which was confirmed in an interview with Gamestar. We’ve seen most of the subscription based games that have released in the past few years move to a free to play model, but ZeniMax Studios is hedging their bets that a monthly subscription can still work in the MMO gaming industry. Juggernauts like World of Warcraft still use the subscription model but we see fewer and fewer games able to pull it off.
Zenimax Studios Game Director Matt Firor had plenty of reasons why he wanted to stick with the subscription model.
“The Elder Scrolls games are all about allowing the player to go where they want, be who they want, and do what they want,” Firor explained. “We feel that putting pay gates between the player and content at any point in game ruins that feeling of freedom, and just having one small monthly fee for 100% access to the game fits the IP and the game much better than a system where you have to pay for features and access as you play. The Elder Scrolls Online was designed and developed to be a premium experience: hundreds of hours of gameplay, tons of depth and features, professional customer support – and a commitment to have ongoing content at regular intervals after launch. This type of experience is best paired with a one-time fee per month, as opposed to many smaller payments that would probably add up to more than $14.99/month anyway.”
When you purchase The Elder Scrolls Online you’ll receive one months worth of game time for free, and to continue you’ll have to pay the standard $14.99 per month. They want to be able to constantly deliver premium content worthy of the price and they’re already working on new content that will release after the launch, aiming to have new content available every four to six weeks.
While the PC version is currently in beta, there’s no official word yet on the launch date for the console beta or the games release date.