Zenimax Online Studios and Bethesda Softworks took to a livestream today to discuss changes coming to The Elder Scrolls Online, including a new seasonal model.
After 12 years of The Elder Scrolls Online, it appears the development team has moved on from the existing chapter model and into how the current seasonal model will work in The Elder Scrolls Online after it was announced by former Zenimax Director Matt Firor at the end of 2024. In case fans have missed it, the entire livestream can be seen on YouTube.
In today’s livestream, ESO Game Director Nick Giacomini and Executive Producer Susan Kath detailed all of the big changes coming to the base game of ESO: Tamriel Unlimited, starting with the announcement that the development team will be more transparent with fans on how they will manage the game’s systems. They will use how they approach the Guild Summit to communicate with fans. Both Giacomini and Kath stressed that content and storylines will remain as usual, but delivery of that content will be treated differently.
Further on that note, all future (and previous) The Elder Scrolls Online expansions (formerly called Chapters) will be unleashed onto players for free in a Seasonal format. These seasons will be launched concurrently on Console and PC at the same time moving forward, eliminating that two week gap where PC players received content early. Seasonal content will function like basic game updates, and players will be able to dive in as it’s released.
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- Tamriel Tomes – This will serve as The Elder Scrolls Online‘s ‘battle pass.’ Like most other ongoing titles, it will serve a free and paid version. The free Tamriel Tome will give cosmetics, armor and weapon styles, 8000 seals of endeavour (by playing, not paying), earnable crown crates, and more. These rewards will replace Daily Login Rewards, making sure players get rewarded for when they’re in the game and playing, instead of having to log in every single day. Challenges have embraced this flexibility, moving to weekly and seasonal models, and removing daily challenges. Three tiers of Tamriel Tomes are available: Free, Premium and Premium+. Fans can complete Tamriel Tomes whenever they feel like and have the time. Expiration dates are a thing of the past.
- Gold Coast Bazaar – A storefront dedicated to players for more rewards and a way players can acquire older items. This is for the players who miss limited-time Twitch drops or limited-time events where it’s an impossibility for some to tune in. The Gold Coast Bazaar will have these drops. New cosmetics and rewards will be added to the Bazaar regularly, and items will rotate in and out, similar (but not exactly) to Fortnite’s Item Shop, as the shop will rotate with the season. Players will use a new currency called Trade Bars to access shop items. This new currency can be earned through Tamriel Tomes. In light of these new developments, the existing Event Ticket model will be scrapped. Trade Bars can be earned through gameplay, with those who pay for ESO Plus getting a small distribution for supporting the game. This currency will have no limit.
- Experimental Content Starting With Night Market! – A new PvE zone designed for experienced players, but doubles as a good place where newcomers can go to find experienced groups. This will be difficult content. Three factions will be included in Night Market, and a new, unique house reward will be released with the Night Market. This new earnable house has an included bank for ease of use as well. The Night Market opens in April 2026 as a limited feature, and it will potentially recur if fans like it.
- Free Existing and Future Expansions – All content in The Elder Scrolls Online will be made free, including existing expansions. The new roadmap bestowed by Zenimax Studios reveals that this will start with Orsinium, Thieves’ Guild, The Dark Brotherhood, and Imperial City Chapters and locations hitting the base game when Season 0 begins in Spring 2026.
- Class and Systems Refresh – Before and after each seasonal launch, The Elder Scrolls Online will refresh existing systems and classes to restore class identity after Subclassing was implemented. The development team hears the player feedback, particularly on how class identity was lost, so visual and skill updates will be included with each season to help restore these class identities.
- Quality of Life – The Elder Scrolls Online team is listening to the community, and with the start of Season 0 a wealth of quality of life updates will be added to the game. This starts with account-wide outfit slots. That’s not all, a female-based werewolf model will be added (as was heavily requested by the community), players will be able to respec their skill trees and attributes free of charge, 16 ridable mounts will be added to the gold (not paid crowns) mount store, and mount training will be reduced in time. Additionally, a direct-to-player werewolf and vampire questline will be added (with respective NPCs) to allow players to roleplay as their favourite abomination.
- Quality of Life, Cont. – Antiquities timing will be extended, and players will be able to add 100+ new furnishings to their homes (including the new bank-equipped one). These changes are designed to respect the player’s time and improve the ESO experience to feel easier. ESO Plus members will get a monthly grant of Tome Points (earned through completing Tamriel Tome tasks), plus players will be able to upgrade their Tamriel Tomes into the higher tier with the membership.
The Elder Scrolls Online development team will share early development ideas with the community moving forward, and provide more transparency toward the community and incorporate more player feedback into roadmaps and content moving forward. The Night Market is reminiscent of that. This is new experimental content that can stay in-game if players like the content, or it can be removed entirely if players don’t.
The roadmap provided by The Elder Scrolls Online team is subject to change based on player feedback, and new content can come to older in-game systems, like a new questline coming to the Thieves’ Guild content in season one. New occurrences will also land in Tamriel Unlimited, like the fan-favourite Daedric Prince Sheogorath, having a specific questline as well.
The team is revamping PvP in The Elder Scrolls Online, starting with rampant online complaints of spawn camping during PvP Battle Grounds battles, they will work on fixing it to be fair for everyone. Lastly, new content will be provided seasonally, with a new Trial landing in season one called the Crimson Veldt, and new solo dungeons landing in season two. Whether fans play alone or together, there are additions for the entire community.
That wraps all of the information given to players from The Elder Scrolls Online Reveal 2026. Those looking for more information can find everything mentioned on the official ESO website.
