Bethesda boasts some of the biggest franchises in the industry, but The Elder Scrolls is the developer’s bread and butter. Through the years, The Elder Scrolls has seen a variety of sequels and spin-offs, and unfortunately, one of those spin-offs is coming to an end. The Elder Scrolls: Legends, the online card-focused counterpart to the franchise, is officially shutting down at the beginning of the year, kicking things off to a rough start for many fans of the series.
Originally reported by PCGamesN, players who now log into the game are greeted by a message confirming that The Elder Scrolls: Legends servers will be shutting down for good on January 30, 2025. After this date, there won’t be an offline mode available, marking a permanent end to the digital card game. Although many fans have been awaiting news about the future of The Elder Scrolls, the closure of a game is likely not the update many expected.
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Originally released in 2017, The Elder Scrolls: Legends ultimately struggled to find a passionate audience, leading to this closure. The longevity of The Elder Scrolls has harbored an impressive following, but the drastic move from combat and exploration-focused gameplay to a card-based game didn’t strike the same chord with many. Despite the game being unable to garner the same traction as other titles in its respective franchise, there were still fans of the digital card game who will no longer get to experience it once January 30 comes around. This brings an unfortunate blow to the franchise’s community, as such bad news at the beginning of the year could make the prospect of an Elder Scrolls 6 update seem less likely.
The Elder Scrolls: Legends
was put on an indefinite hold in 2019. Although the game remained online, there have been no updates since.
Although some may hold this worry, it is unlikely that the cancelation of The Elder Scrolls: Legends will affect the highly-anticipated Elder Scrolls 6 in any way. Since its 2018 announcement, there has yet to be any substantial update regarding the sixth mainline entry in the series. As each new year passes, the hope for a fresh announcement becomes more palpable, and 2025 will hopefully be that year. So, although The Elder Scrolls: Legends getting shut down may seem like a bad omen, this could potentially be a good sign for The Elder Scrolls 6. It’s possible that this shut down could be to provide more space to work on this next anticipated chapter. Of course, this is mere speculation, but no longer having to support Legends could be beneficial for Bethesda in the long run.
The Elder Scrolls: Legends
‘ Steam player peak hit 9,000 after launch, but those numbers dwindled into the hundreds by 2020.
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Although the audience for online digital card games isn’t as wide-reaching as a first or third-person action RPG, the concept behind The Elder Scrolls: Legends was an interesting attempt at something new. Despite the low player count and years of being on hold, the game boasted a variety of positive reviews; even receiving a score of 80% on Metacritic. This may be the end of an era for one branch of The Elder Scrolls tree, but there will hopefully be more news of The Elder Scrolls 6 on the horizon.
Even though this shut down dampens the beginning of the year, there is still optimism about impending Elder Scrolls 6 updates. The wait for more insight into the future of the franchise has been lengthy, but when The Elder Scrolls 6 gets another reveal, it could make up for this shut-down.
