Bethesda has been running a successful invite-only beta for The Elder Scrolls Online over the past year, giving gamers a chance to test and play the upcoming MMO at no cost. The full release, however, will not be a free-to-play experience unlike so many other games in the genre.
Bethesda is sticking to a $15 per month subscription fee, and has stepped out to defend that decision against criticism. The publisher believes it's justified due to the breadth and amount of content they will be adding to the game for paying customers.
"We feel pretty strongly about the support we're going to have for the game and what you're going to get for those dollars," said vice president of PR Pete Hines, told Gamespot. "We're also very confident in our ability to support it with content."
Hines and Bethesda want gamers to know that they won't be getting charged just for the game and small additions like cosmetic items or boosts. The value in the subscription fee is supposedly "content that is real and significant and [...] feels like regular and consistent DLC releases" and that if it was free-to-play it would have resulted in a "lesser game".
"It is a massive, 'Go where you want, do what you want' game that we think offers the kind of experience that's worthy of a subscription," Hines explains. "We want to do the version that we think is the best game and the coolest experience. And that means putting a lot of people and a lot of content creators towards having stuff that comes our regularly; every four weeks, five weeks, six weeks."
If you want to try the game, this upcoming weekend is its final beta. It will be available on Windows PC and OS X April 4, and in June on Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
