Elder Scrolls Online - Editorial @ MMO-Play

MMO-Play is the next site to write an article asking,"Can Elder Scrolls Online Succeed as a Subscription MMO?"

The eager anticipation that was building for Elder Scrolls Online has recently taken a hit. At gamescom, Zenimax Online and Bethesda announced that the upcoming mmorpg would be charging a fifteen dollar a month subscription fee for its players. This announcement took many players by surprise as the trend in online games has been increasingly free-to-play with many subscription-based games ditching the subscription fee and going the f2p route. It appears that Bethesda has decided to buck that trend, which beggars the question - can Elder Scrolls Online succeed as a subscription mmo?

The answer to such a question is nebulous. The announcement that Elder Scrolls Online was going to be a subscription mmo has caused an ongoing battle of words amongst gamers. On one side are those who have become comfortable with the f2p model, and on the other side, you have gamers who only play subscription-based games and view f2p games as money pits or pay-to-win. As for Elder Scrolls Online, it is possible for it to succeed with a subscription model, but the odds are stacked against it.