Rumor: Elder Scrolls Online could go 'free-to-play' after retailer removes copies of the game

Elder Scrolls Online

A Kotaku AU source has stated that major Australia video-game retailer EG Games will be removing all copies of The Elder Scrolls Online from its shelves starting January 13th, which includes pre-paid game-time cards as well. A directive has been sent to EB stores across Australia instructing staff to send any unsold copies of the game back to Bethesda. This is an interesting decision that comes a week after Bethesda announced that it would be doing away with the game’s six-month subscription option.

EB claims that this is all part of an ordinary stock recall procedures where excess stock is sent back to the publishers. Likewise a moderator on an official French TESO forum has claimed that the six-month subscription option was discontinued due to lack of demand, as players prefer buying shorter blocks instead. However, Kotaku spoke to an EB source who claimed that this recall has specifically instructed store managers to remove all stocks (whereas normal ordinary stock recalls only deal with excess stock).

So this could mean that Bethesda intends to scrap the monthly subscription model in favour of a free-to-play model. Which could be why EB games is planning to send back these unsold boxes, as they would become worthless once the game goes free-to-play. But the decision could also mean that Bethesda is preparing to shut the game down. However, that seems like pretty drastic decision as of now, given that the game is still pretty new, so free-to-play might be the more likely outcome.

The Elder Scrolls Online was released back in April, 2014 for the PC. The game is a first person open ended multiplayer based on the world and lore of the Elder Scrolls games. The game did not fare so well with many players complaining about excessive bugs and an expensive subscription model. It will be receiving a huge update later this month which will include some huge changes to the MMO.