The Elder Scrolls Online dev explains decision to charge £9 monthly subscription

The Elder Scrolls Online director Matt Firor has explained to Eurogamer why Zenimax Online Studios has decided to charge a monthly subscription for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game at a time when most observers consider the business model outdated.

[sigfredod]

Way too expensive, this game is out of my radar right now

[Winter47th]

"The Elder Scrolls Online dev explains decision to charge SAR53 (£9) monthly subscription"

Hahahaha, no.

[cleft5]

Yeah this will pretty much be the killing blow for them. Bioware was force to make the same mistake with the Kotor MMO because of EA's and LucasArt's greed. Things didn't turn out well for them and I don't see it being that different for the ESO mmo.

[ABizzel1]

@Sigfredod

Don't worry it'll be F2P in no more than a year. The subscription model, just can't be upheld at that price anymore.

[Mainsqueeze]

Unless its something very amazing and new that people really really want to play, which i don't know if ESO will be. Like I would probably pay $15 a month for the new everquest if they can get all the small things right and deliver on the things they showed at the reveal.

[ABizzel1]

@Mainsqueeze

Let me rephrase my response. Console gamers will NEVER pay $15/month for a game.

PC maybe, but it's becoming more and more rare on PC as well.

[Bigpappy]

Zemax got a taste of Skyrim money. Now they are addicts. Hopefully Bethesda still owns Elder scrolls and can jump ship before they get eaten by these lions.

I don't think they should even bother bringing it to console now. Just leave that on the PC for those who are used to donating $15 a month.

[CheexInk]

>Hopefully Bethesda still owns Elder scrolls and can jump ship before they get eaten by these lions.

What? Bethesda basically IS Zenimax. It's not like this was EA and Bioware.

[3-4-5]

@ $5.00 , people might pay. even then just go f2p

[JunioRS101]

"Greed"

[GarrusVakarian]

What interest i had in this game is completely gone now.

[fossilfern]

I just hope this wont be their excuse for not making an ES6. Just like bioware said with STOR claiming it would be KOTOR3,4,5 etc.

[ElementX]

Lol all the stingy gamers out there. If you are going to complain about paying you'd probably find something else to complain about. Saves more room on the servers for dedicated gamers who aren't whiners

[-Foxtrot]

Not everyone has money like you to dish on this every month, ontop of buying it aswell and paying for live/PSN Plus

Just because people can't afford things (especially in this economy) dosen't mean they are whiners....seriously people like you are the reason we get treat like crap by developers because they think they can do whatever they want since you guys stick up for them and try to make the people complaining look small.

[ElementX]

Well not everybody should be entitled to play everything. If a developer needs regular funding to produce a quality product I don't want whiners running it by turning it into a f2p. Free to play are usually crap except guild wars

[awi5951]

Well you all should have protested paying for online like you did against microsofts DRM. You kids dont have your priorities straight. Paying for online play is far more of a assault to gamers rights than microsofts DRM policy. You can choose to play games somewhere else now but you cant choose not to pay to play online unless you go PC now.

[Kryptix]

Not only is it because it's $15 a month, stacking up with your PS Plus and Xbox Live Gold subscriptions, but because most MMOs don't use the same formula anymore. For example, Guild Wars 2 is a one time pay and because of that, it became the fastest selling Western MMO of all time.

http://www.forbes.com/sites...

"Saves more room on the servers for dedicated gamers who aren't whiners."

What's the point of an MMO if the world is going to be rarely active because people with brains don't fall for unnecessary money grabbing schemes like you do.

Edit:
"If a developer needs regular funding to produce a quality product I don't want whiners running it by turning it into a f2p."

Hmmm...
Make a game similar to Skyrim + add servers to include multiple players in one world = Another quality best seller.

Why do they need the funding? They already know fans will appreciate it like previous Elder Scrolls games which will amass huge profits that can pay for server costs. And being an MMO, expansions can be added which means even more profits. Having free to play would mean more players will be interested, resulting in more buyers, gain popularity, then you got a game that someday will match with Guild Wars 2 over time.

[spaceg0st]

@element
Easy little guy.

I don't want to spend $ on the game, spend $ to play the game online (psn) and then pay $ for a monthly fee.

I would have gotten the game, as I did skyrim, but not anymore. Their limiting their audience to the hardcore elder scrolls fan, and I think hurting their sales drastically in the process

[Lord_Sloth]

The issue is simple: They're charging for a game that you've already bought and paid for and they have no reason to do so.

CoD, Battlefield, DCUO, PSO2, Guild Wars, and many other online games are free to play now. they make their money through their original sales and their dlc. There's no reason to charge a monthly subscription for a $60 game aside from greed.

[ElementX]

If a number of smaller scale, single player games need to sell millions of copies to break even without running large servers, how can an mmo, which generally sell fewer copies ever going to make a profit? Guild wars is an exception. Must mmos are crap when f2p. You also mentioned battlefield which isn't mmo and sells enough to make a profit. DCUO is complete garbage. I played for a month then quit

[BlingBlaine]

Will be skipping this one due to high cost.

Seriously $15 a month LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!

[SpringHeeledJack]

£5 a month nothing more. I was really looking forward to this game and one those that don't mind subscription based games if done right, but i won't be paying that.

[Kenshin_BATT0USAI]

"and to fund post-release content."

That's all I needed to read up to.

Plenty of Free to play games give new content all the time without monthly subscriptions. Hell look at Guild Wars 2. There's so much damn content I'm behind on in that game that it'll take literally 3 hours for me just to update my game.

[Mainsqueeze]

I would disagree and say that GW2 doesn't really have that much content for ppl that are max level compared to most sub fee mmos, regardless its still a good mmo and worth the B2P.

[Kenshin_BATT0USAI]

It's arguable...as I'm still not maxed level, but, I will trust your opinion on it!!! AGREED.

[jackanderson1985]

they should at least give a trial period for people to try it out see if they want it then lump on the fee if they're definitely sticking with it

[dazzrazz]

This is DOA free to play year from release date :> Looks like those guys got stuck in World of Warcraft era which is slowly shrinking every year.

[bradfh]

I will never pay to play online after spending 60 on a game. All mmo games are going free to play now days and this will fail like everyone else. i will get everquest next instead

[jagstatboy]

In a way, I'm glad...now I don't desire to play it anymore and I can concentrate on next gen games that will take up my time and don't cost after the initial purchase. Even if I want to stick to fantasy rpg genre, I'll play Witcher 3 or Dragon Age Inquisition.

[pandehz]

I thought they would have cancelled this game by now.

Looks like such a yawnfest

[Bhuahahaha]

which will go f2p first es or ff14

ill just past this one 1. i still enjoy playing skyrim atm

[Kayant]

Good luck with that.

[Zichu]

I can understand that nobody wants to pay a subscription to keep playing a game, but when you pay for the games, that won't pay for the servers for the entirety of the game.

You pay a monthly subscription to keep the servers alive, when people stop paying for the game, they have to close or merge servers and result to microtransactions. Microtransactions are most likely going to result in hindering everyone else's experience. They aren't going to offer crappy items, it will most likely be EXP and equipment with decent stats. Just ruins the game.

[Lord_Sloth]

I quote myself...

"CoD, Battlefield, DCUO, PSO2, Guild Wars, and many other online games are free to play now. they make their money through their original sales and their dlc. There's no reason to charge a monthly subscription for a $60 game aside from greed."

New content doesn't require a monthly fee, and neither does server upkeep. It just requires effort and listening to what your fans are asking you.

[Zichu]

I didn't realize servers cost nothing...
I also never mentioned anything about new content, but it costs time for programmers, modelers, designers, etc. They aren't going to work for free.

Also, CoD on PC requires either paying for a server yourself or using some else's server, which they have to pay for.

A lot of F2P games have microtransactions which ruin the game completely. Or they do a plan where you can play for free, but your restricted to certain features, areas, levels, etc. in the game and you have to pay for a premium account.

Every company that has released an MMO has charged players using whatever model possible. They need the money to pay for servers, customer support, maintenances, updates, patches, etc.

[breakpad]

LOl....dead before it starts ...who s gonna pay fora mmorpg that has nothing else except hype ..have you seen any korean mmorpg lately?? they just make their western counterparts seem like baby games

[Master-H]

Pretty expensive , plus Subscription model isn't fit for console gaming + the game not looking promising = insta' pass

[sevilha82]

that´s like 10.4 something euros,roud it to ten € a month that´s 120 € a year.

F..ck that.

[josephayal]

Amazing Just Amazing, a video game for the low price of $180 a year ?
First Year $240usd.... NO!

[Red_Devilz]

I am going to stay away from any "pay to play" thing. I would rather pay full price ($60) and buy a game - one time. Don't need "the power of Kloud" to milk gamers all year round.

TES Online = DOA. What were they thinking?