The Elder Scrolls Online still in development, pushed back about 6 months

Waiting to play Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls Online on your shiny new PS4 or Xbox One? Well, you’re going to have to sit tight a little longer, though you might not mind since the company has announced a special deal for cross-platform gamers.

Namely, you’re going to be waiting about 6 months more as Bethesda has officially announced that the console port of the popular online game has been pushed back a little further than they (or you more than likely) would have hoped. Originally set for June, the game will now see release around the Holidays on the XO and PS4.

The reason? Bethesda says that each console has had some issues with the game and they’re still working on fusing their own online systems (which work natively with the PC/Mac) with Microsoft’s and Sony’s to make the game work. As a result of the rely though, Bethesda has worked out a special plan where gamers can buy the game right now on their computing platform of choice and get the console edition for only $20.00 USD (plus another month of game time for free) when it sees release. Not a bad deal at all if you just can’t wait and you can support the game on your PC or Mac.

Maybe the best part too, is that Bethesda says that you’ll be able to carry over your character and progress to that console version when you get it. Very nice. Here’s the letter, direct from the company to gamers:

We’ve been grateful to our fans for the wonderful response to our recent launch of The Elder Scrolls Online for PC/Mac, but we know many of you are eagerly waiting to play the game on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

We continue to work on the console versions of ESO, and game development has been progressing steadily, but we are still working to solve a series of unique problems specific to those platforms. Integrating our systems with each console manufacturer’s networks — which are both different from the PC/Mac system as well as different from each other—has been a challenging process. It has become clear that our planned June release of the console versions isn’t going to be possible.  Though we have made great progress, we have concluded that we’ll need about six months to ensure we deliver the experience our fans expect and deserve.

We know that the news of an ESO console delay is as disappointing to many of you as it is to us. We want to do what we can to make it up to our fans who want to start playing now, so we have worked out the following arrangement with Sony and Microsoft:

Via a special offer, anyone who purchases and plays the PC/Mac version of The Elder Scrolls Online by the end of June will have the opportunity to transfer their character(s) to either console version when they are released. The offer will allow you to begin playing immediately on the PC/Mac, and then add the PS4 or Xbox One version and transfer the character(s) you have created and developed. And, you don’t have to pay full price for the game twice. For $20, eligible PC and Mac players will have the option to add a full, digital version of ESO on either the PS4 or the Xbox One with your character transfer(s), and another 30 days of included game time. 

Whether you decide to take advantage of this offer or not, we promise to do everything we can to get the game released on both consoles as quickly as we can. We will keep everyone updated with additional details regarding character transfers, specific offer dates, when you can expect console beta to start, and of course, when ESO on consoles will launch.

Thank you for your patience and loyal support.

If you’d like to see our review of the game, and see if it’s your cup of computer-tea, click here.