Good news for those of you waiting to get something "extra" when you pick up Bethesda's upcoming MMORPG, The Elder Scrolls Online. The company has announced a special edition of the game, the Imperial Edition, and is now available for pre-order in both digital and physical formats from select retailers, as well as Bethesda's official online store.
The physical edition includes the following:
- Molag Bal Statue. A 12" statue featuring Molag Bal, Daedric Prince of domination and enslavement.
- The Improved Emperor's Guide to Tamriel. A 224-page illustrated guide annotated by the Imperial scholar, Flaccus Terentius.
- Physical Map of Tamriel. A 21" x 26" printed map detailing Alliance-controlled zones and the ultimate conquest: Cyrodiil.
- SteelbookTM Packaging. A limited edition steel case decorated in the color of the Imperials.
- Exclusive Collection of Digital Content.
- Play as an Imperial: Become an Imperial and play in any Alliance. Gain unique bonuses, crafting styles, gear, and more.
- White Imperial Horse: Summon this Imperial mount and journey through Tamriel with speed.
- Mudcrab Vanity Pet: Explore Tamriel with a mudcrab pet scuttling along by your side.
- Rings of Mara: Complete the Ritual of Mara with a friend and receive an experience bonus when you play together.
If that sounds like a nice collections of extra bits, better put in your order in now. The company is advertising the physical edition as "extremely limted." It goes for $99.99.
Anyone who pre-orders either edition of the game also gets an Explorer's Pack as a bonus, which offers:
- Scuttler Vanity Pet
- Four bonus treasure maps
- Ability to play as any of the nine races in any Alliance
The Elder Scrolls Online hits PC and Mac first on April 4.
For those of you planning to play the game on console, there's good news and bad news. First, the bad news. If you plan on playing the game on your Xbox One, you'll need to make sure you have a Xbox Live Gold membership. Originally, Bethesda was in talks with Microsoft to let Xbox One gamers play without the Gold membership, but Matt Firor, Game Director of Bethesda's parent company ZeniMax, decided to go with a monthly subscription ($14.99 per month) for the game.
As for the good news, for those of you with a PS4, you won't need a PlayStation Plus membership according to a new post on the PlayStation Blog. But you will need to pay the monthly subscription.
The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game release this June.
Lastly, there's also a lengthy new trailer out for the game. Make sure you check it out below.