Zenimax Online Studios announced Elsweyr today, the next chapter for its massively multiplayer online role-playing game The Elder Scrolls Online. It releases in June.
Elsweyr will take place in the country of the same name, which is home to the cat-like Khajiit race. It will also introduce a new class, Necromancers, and dragons for the first time in ESO history.
The Elder Scrolls Online launched in 2014 for PC. After a rocky start, the MMO has found better success through a series of updates and expansions, including 2017’s Morrowind and 2018’s Summerset. ESO is also available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game has attracted over 11 million players.
Dragons are back
Zenimax notes that the new Elsweyr zone will be about the same size and scope as last year’s Summerset addition. The main story quest — which involves a dragon invasion of the country — will give players about 30 hours of content. Elsweyr also adds a new Trial names Sunspire, which has 12 players working together.
Dragons were a major focus of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which came out in 2011. Skyrim is the most popular entry in the series, having sold over 30 million copies.
While many MMOs require players to have played through all old content before they can go to new areas in expansions, Elsweyr’s new zone will be immediately avaialbe to new and veteran players.
Elsweyr is also just one (albeit largest) part of a year of content that Zenimax has planned for ESO, a connected story that it is calling Season of the Dragon. This story will start with Wrathstone downloadable game pack, which comes out in February. After Elsweyr’s June release, two more downloadable game packs will follow in the third and fourth quarters of the year.
