Bethesda Unveils Free-to-Play “Elder Scrolls Blades” RPG for Mobile Devices
An unexpected announcement from Bethesda’s E3 presentation was the announcement of Elder Scrolls Blades. This new title is a role-playing game for mobile devices. Bethesda director Todd Howard compared the game to Fallout Shelter, but the title will clearly be a very different experience.
Howard clearly stated that this was not a simple mobile game. He claimed that the game was a full Elder Scrolls RPG with “console-quality graphics”. The game casts the player a member of the Blades, who has returned from exile to find their hometown in ruins. The story centers around rebuilding that town as you unlock quests and interact with NPCs.
Elder Scrolls Blades’ Impressive Features
The presentation unveiled a host of features offered by Elder Scrolls Blades. The game will apparently feature both handmade and procedurally-generated dungeons, a full character creation system, and what appears to be a very responsive combat system. Interestingly, the whole game can be played in portrait mode, or what Howard jokingly referred to as “Meeting Mode” (because nobody knows that you’re playing a game on a phone in portrait mode). In addition to the main game, Elder Scrolls Blades also features a player-vs-player arena mode, and a rogue-like endless dungeon mode. Finally, every player has an area called “The Town” where they can build and upgrade their settlement. According to Howard, players will be able to visit one another’s towns.
Although the title is primarily for mobiles, Todd Howard stated that Bethesda would also be bringing the game to PC. He also said that Elder Scrolls Blades would be VR-compatible on both mobile and PC. In addition, all versions of the game will be compatible with one another. Howard illustrated this by stating that one player playing on a mobile phone could be simultaneously playing with someone playing the game in VR on a home PC. Elder Scrolls Blades is already available for pre-order on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. It will release for free later this year. Players can sign up for early access at playblades.com.