Bethesda Reveals Free-to-Play RPG 'The Elder Scrolls: Blades' Will Launch This Fall on iOS

[MacRumors]

During its E3 conference last night, Bethesda Game Studios revealed that a new game in the Elder Scrolls series is coming to iOS and Android devices this fall, called The Elder Scrolls: Blades [Direct Link] (via TouchArcade). Bethesda describes Blades as a free-to-play title, but the developer didn't give any further details about potential in-app purchases.

In terms of story, players will take on the role of a member of the ancient order of the Blades, tasked with rebuilding and restoring their ramshackle hometown to its former glory after being exiled from the order. Bethesda says the mobile game "contains the many hallmarks" of the series that fans know of:

...beautifully rendered, console-quality environments, powerful magic, tons of gear to collect, upgradeable skills and of course, real-time fantasy battles!

Like other Elder Scrolls games, Blades is first person and fights are controlled by using the touchscreen to slash your sword, deflect, cast spells, and more. A fighting Arena features one-on-one combat with other players in real time, and an infinite, roguelike Abyss mode hides treasures in a never-ending dungeon.

The single-player campaign takes players through the town rebuilding process, where they will be able to customize the city to their liking as it expands and even visit their friends' towns. In every mode, Blades supports both two-handed landscape and a one-handed portrait setup, and to switch between each all you have to do is rotate the iPhone or iPad.

During the company's press conference, Bethesda Games Studios director Todd Howard showed a video of the game running on an iPhone X.

Those interested have until June 15 to pre-register for a chance to be part of the game's early access program. Otherwise, Bethesda says that The Elder Scrolls: Blades will launch to the public sometime later this year. Although it's launching first on smartphones and tablets, Howard says that Blades will eventually be available on PC and console.

On the iOS App Store, Apple has featured The Elder Scrolls: Blades today in a sneak peek article, where users can also pre-order the game [Direct Link] with an expected release date of September 1, 2018. A few other iOS gaming announcements have been made at E3 this year, one including a mash-up of the Gears of War franchise and Funko Pop toys called Gears Pop.

Article Link: Bethesda Reveals Free-to-Play RPG 'The Elder Scrolls: Blades' Will Launch This Fall on iOS

 

[Danoc]

-

 

[strategicthinke]

Free to play, the words of doom for serious gaming.

It’s so exciting to see Civilization V (full retail price) and PUBG (even though it is also free to play, the genre of battle royals leaves no room to monetise in progress, only on cosmetic items to make your character “cooler”), only to have your hope of iOS as a serious gaming platform shattered by news like that.

 

[Kobayagi]

Free to play, the words of doom for serious gaming.

It’s so exciting to see Civilization V (full retail price) and PUBG (even though it is also free to play, the genre of battle royals leaves no room to monetise in progress, only on cosmetic items to make your character “cooler”), only to have you’re hope of iOS as a serious gaming platform shattered by news like that.

How can iOS ever be a 'serious gaming' platform? Yeah, iPhones and iPads are really capable devices, but they just can't cut it compared to consoles and especially pc's when we look at graphics performances. Ignoring this fact, for 'serious gaming', you want to play on a tv or a big monitor and want to control the game with a controller, preferably with a mouse and keyboard, depending on the game type.

What Apple is offering with the AppleTV is just a bad attempt at what Nintendo was doing with the Wii: games for kids which is not the 'serious gaming' I think we are talking about.

 

[MacFan23]

How can iOS ever be a 'serious gaming' platform? Yeah, iPhones and iPads are really capable devices, but they just can't cut it compared to consoles and especially pc's when we look at graphics performances. Ignoring this fact, for 'serious gaming', you want to play on a tv or a big monitor and want to control the game with a controller, preferably with a mouse and keyboard, depending on the game type.

What Apple is offering with the AppleTV is just a bad attempt at what Nintendo was doing with the Wii: games for kids which is not the 'serious gaming' I think we are talking about.

MFi controllers have been a thing for a while now.

 

[JagdTiger]

During its E3 conference last night, Bethesda Game Studios revealed that a new game in the Elder Scrolls series is coming to iOS and Android devices this fall, called The Elder Scrolls: Blades [Direct Link] (via TouchArcade). Bethesda describes Blades as a free-to-play title, but the developer didn't give any further details about potential in-app purchases.

In terms of story, players will take on the role of a member of the ancient order of the Blades, tasked with rebuilding and restoring their ramshackle hometown to its former glory after being exiled from the order. Bethesda says the mobile game "contains the many hallmarks" of the series that fans know of:
Like other Elder Scrolls games, Blades is first person and fights are controlled by using the touchscreen to slash your sword, deflect, cast spells, and more. A fighting Arena features one-on-one combat with other players in real time, and an infinite, roguelike Abyss mode hides treasures in a never-ending dungeon.

The single-player campaign takes players through the town rebuilding process, where they will be able to customize the city to their liking as it expands and even visit their friends' towns. In every mode, Blades supports both two-handed landscape and a one-handed portrait setup, and to switch between each all you have to do is rotate the iPhone or iPad.

During the company's press conference, Bethesda Games Studios director Todd Howard showed a video of the game running on an iPhone X.

Those interested have until June 15 to pre-register for a chance to be part of the game's early access program. Otherwise, Bethesda says that The Elder Scrolls: Blades will launch to the public sometime later this year. Although it's launching first on smartphones and tablets, Howard says that Blades will eventually be available on PC and console.

On the iOS App Store, Apple has featured The Elder Scrolls: Blades today in a sneak peek article, where users can also pre-order the game [Direct Link] with an expected release date of September 1, 2018. A few other iOS gaming announcements have been made at E3 this year, one including a mash-up of the Gears of War franchise and Funko Pop toys called Gears Pop.

Article Link: Bethesda Reveals Free-to-Play RPG 'The Elder Scrolls: Blades' Will Launch This Fall on iOS

Great, finally a Bethesda game on IOS, what about Skyrim or Wolfenstein?, those would nice too!
[doublepost=1528725739][/doublepost]

How can iOS ever be a 'serious gaming' platform? Yeah, iPhones and iPads are really capable devices, but they just can't cut it compared to consoles and especially pc's when we look at graphics performances. Ignoring this fact, for 'serious gaming', you want to play on a tv or a big monitor and want to control the game with a controller, preferably with a mouse and keyboard, depending on the game type.

What Apple is offering with the AppleTV is just a bad attempt at what Nintendo was doing with the Wii: games for kids which is not the 'serious gaming' I think we are talking about.

The iPad is more tech than the Nintendo switch which has Skyrim and other Bethesda games on it.
[doublepost=1528725844][/doublepost]

During its E3 conference last night, Bethesda Game Studios revealed that a new game in the Elder Scrolls series is coming to iOS and Android devices this fall, called The Elder Scrolls: Blades [Direct Link] (via TouchArcade). Bethesda describes Blades as a free-to-play title, but the developer didn't give any further details about potential in-app purchases.

In terms of story, players will take on the role of a member of the ancient order of the Blades, tasked with rebuilding and restoring their ramshackle hometown to its former glory after being exiled from the order. Bethesda says the mobile game "contains the many hallmarks" of the series that fans know of:
Like other Elder Scrolls games, Blades is first person and fights are controlled by using the touchscreen to slash your sword, deflect, cast spells, and more. A fighting Arena features one-on-one combat with other players in real time, and an infinite, roguelike Abyss mode hides treasures in a never-ending dungeon.

The single-player campaign takes players through the town rebuilding process, where they will be able to customize the city to their liking as it expands and even visit their friends' towns. In every mode, Blades supports both two-handed landscape and a one-handed portrait setup, and to switch between each all you have to do is rotate the iPhone or iPad.

During the company's press conference, Bethesda Games Studios director Todd Howard showed a video of the game running on an iPhone X.

Those interested have until June 15 to pre-register for a chance to be part of the game's early access program. Otherwise, Bethesda says that The Elder Scrolls: Blades will launch to the public sometime later this year. Although it's launching first on smartphones and tablets, Howard says that Blades will eventually be available on PC and console.

On the iOS App Store, Apple has featured The Elder Scrolls: Blades today in a sneak peek article, where users can also pre-order the game [Direct Link] with an expected release date of September 1, 2018. A few other iOS gaming announcements have been made at E3 this year, one including a mash-up of the Gears of War franchise and Funko Pop toys called Gears Pop.

Article Link: Bethesda Reveals Free-to-Play RPG 'The Elder Scrolls: Blades' Will Launch This Fall on iOS

What about that elder scrolls online game?, this would also be great to have on a tablet!

 

[travis64]

This is the kind of games the iphone needs

 

[Juicy Box]

During its E3 conference last night, Bethesda Game Studios revealed that a new game in the Elder Scrolls series is coming to iOS and Android devices this fall, called The Elder Scrolls: Blades

I wonder if this will come to the tvOS?

 

[KillerTree]

How can iOS ever be a 'serious gaming' platform? Yeah, iPhones and iPads are really capable devices, but they just can't cut it compared to consoles and especially pc's when we look at graphics performances. Ignoring this fact, for 'serious gaming', you want to play on a tv or a big monitor and want to control the game with a controller, preferably with a mouse and keyboard, depending on the game type.

What Apple is offering with the AppleTV is just a bad attempt at what Nintendo was doing with the Wii: games for kids which is not the 'serious gaming' I think we are talking about.

The Nintendo Switch has proven iPhones have the horsepower to be serious gaming devices.

 

[nviz22]

How can iOS ever be a 'serious gaming' platform? Yeah, iPhones and iPads are really capable devices, but they just can't cut it compared to consoles and especially pc's when we look at graphics performances. Ignoring this fact, for 'serious gaming', you want to play on a tv or a big monitor and want to control the game with a controller, preferably with a mouse and keyboard, depending on the game type.

What Apple is offering with the AppleTV is just a bad attempt at what Nintendo was doing with the Wii: games for kids which is not the 'serious gaming' I think we are talking about.

You have to define what the end object is for iOS though. If 'serious gaming' is based off your defined perception; then an iPhone and iPad will not be there anytime soon.

I think Apple will go different direction to create newer opportunities for developers/publishers to enjoy innovation and new technology. AR/VR could be even bigger gaming vehicles too. The new Lego AR game could be a huge hit with kids. VR on smartphones could be cheaper because you can use the Google Cardboard Box display, Galaxy Gear VR (now rebranded to Galaxy VR), etc.

I am not 100% sure how accurate Bethesda's #s are, but they claim over 120 million people played Fallout Shelter last night. Companies do doctor #s, just like Apple could do in its presentations. However, Bethesda is willing to support games on iPhone. Blades can do well. PUBG and Fortnight are on iPhone as well.

If the iPhone/iPad supplement console gaming or creates specific niched games around mobile only; I think Apple can see tons of profits along with developers/publishers.
[doublepost=1528729125][/doublepost]

The Nintendo Switch has proven iPhones have the horsepower to be serious gaming devices.

Having horsepower only goes so far though. Apple might have a SoC advantage by about 2 years; however, you need dev support and possible publishers to push games out. As long as Apple supports devs w/ program languages, ARKit, etc? The mobile gaming world can grow even more than it has. Apple is supporting mobile gaming and will get more success.

Nintendo is different because the platform is there; but third party devs aren't supporting games too well. No Madden or NHL on the Switch? No Battlefield or COD on there? Fortnight comes out tomorrow from Epic; however that's the F2P skin/cosmetic driven approach. Nintendo is killing it with the first party titles though.

 

[macduke]

During their press conference they also announced a ton of other games. I'm really looking forward to Fallout 76, and in the coming years Starfield and Elder Scrolls VI. So people will have plenty of non-mobile titles to play. Stop freaking out. They announced that Fallout Shelter, their first mobile game, has already surpassed 120 million players. They said that's more than all their other games combined. That's why this game exists. If there wasn't a market for it, they wouldn't make it. Starfield and Elder Scrolls VI are both single player next-gen titles. So they're not abandoning their roots. If they can make a crapload of money on mobile and use that to fund their other efforts to make them even better, then I'm all for that. I think some people are worried about them getting greedy and going mobile or freemium/pay-to-win/loot-box only. But I don't think that's who Bethesda is. They've been around a long time.

 

[nviz22]

During their press conference they also announced a ton of other games. I'm really looking forward to Fallout 76, and in the coming years Starfield and Elder Scrolls VI. So people will have plenty of non-mobile titles to play. Stop freaking out. They announced that Fallout Shelter, their first mobile game, has already surpassed 120 million players. They said that's more than all their other games combined. That's why this game exists. If there wasn't a market for it, they wouldn't make it. Starfield and Elder Scrolls VI are both single player next-gen titles. So they're not abandoning their roots. If they can make a crapload of money on mobile and use that to fund their other efforts to make them even better, then I'm all for that. I think some people are worried about them getting greedy and going mobile or freemium/pay-to-win/loot-box only. But I don't think that's who Bethesda is. They've been around a long time.

Even if they go freemium/pay-to-win/loot-box only, end users get choices to play or not. If enough people do not participate in those models, they will cease to be profitable. However, the masses may not care because those games are viable and continue to receive support. EA's FUT/HUT/MUT are so popular on mobile and console. People will probably buy Respawn's new Star Wars game despite EA's soured reputation too.

I am only interested in Starfield and Wolfenstein.

 

[Mousse]

Free to play, pay to win. I'll bet regular loot will be crap, above average stuff will have a 10-15% drop rate, good stuff 5% drop rate and the best stuff will have less than .1% drop rate. You farm for months on end or you can drop a few bucks for the best gear in the game. The next update will make the current best gear 2nd best. And so on. Pay to win.

 

[tipoo]

MFI controller support please!

Our phones are so powerful now, the 8/X being easily above the Switch at portable clocks, but physical controls are a big difference. I want more AAA mobile titles that support MFI controllers for a Switch-Lite experience.

 

[JagdTiger]

MFI controller support please!

Our phones are so powerful now, the 8/X being easily above the Switch at portable clocks, but physical controls are a big difference. I want more AAA mobile titles that support MFI controllers for a Switch-Lite experience.

These seem to be good controllers.

https://gamevice.com/

 

[tipoo]

These seem to be good controllers.

https://gamevice.com/

I've seen those, question is if this game will support them

A lot of games that look like obvious fits for MFI don't actually support it unfortunately, like Fortnite or Shadowgun Legends etc.

 

[lec0rsaire]

From what I’ve seen so far this is by far the most graphics intensive game to ever release on iOS. I haven’t seen something look this good since Infinity Blade 1 back in 2010. Hopefully gameplay isn’t ruined with excessive micro-transactions. If done right the game is not pay-to-win and those who love paying for skins and special weapons will be able to do so.

 

[TaviDuprix]

And this is exactly why iPhone X Plus is just that...a plus. Having that little bit of extra screen real estate is going to be great when playing visually rich games like this. I cannot wait. I am surprised that no one is talking about the interplay between systems. This is a great first step to something I have wanted for quite some time. I think it would be really cool to have a MMO or RPG where the scale is such that mobile serves one function and PC / Console serves another but they inter-operate in the game world. Something of the order of mobile being the infantry and PC / Console being your leadership with more complex decision-making that impacts the mobile gameplay. If executed properly, it could lead to the best gaming experience to date.

 

[strategicthinke]

How can iOS ever be a 'serious gaming' platform? Yeah, iPhones and iPads are really capable devices, but they just can't cut it compared to consoles and especially pc's when we look at graphics performances. Ignoring this fact, for 'serious gaming', you want to play on a tv or a big monitor and want to control the game with a controller, preferably with a mouse and keyboard, depending on the game type.

What Apple is offering with the AppleTV is just a bad attempt at what Nintendo was doing with the Wii: games for kids which is not the 'serious gaming' I think we are talking about.

You’d be surprised how well PUBG runs on an iPad Pro 10.5. Ironically, Inprefer tomolay PUBG Mobile rather than PUBG or other shooters on my PC and my PS4.

There is something about portability (even to play in bed) that really hits he spot. That also explains why many serious gamers ike me) love the switch despite its relatively lower processing power.

 

[ctg7w6]

You’d be surprised how well PUBG runs on an iPad Pro 10.5. Ironically, Inprefer tomolay PUBG Mobile rather than PUBG or other shooters on my PC and my PS4.

There is something about portability (even to play in bed) that really hits he spot. That also explains why many serious gamers ike me) love the switch despite its relatively lower processing power.

Even my iPhone X surprised my with pubg. Now I have a really powerful gaming pc, but I was still surprised at how good iOS devices are. They’re really quite powerful for being tiny devices.

 

[tipoo]

From what I’ve seen so far this is by far the most graphics intensive game to ever release on iOS. I haven’t seen something look this good since Infinity Blade 1 back in 2010. Hopefully gameplay isn’t ruined with excessive micro-transactions. If done right the game is not pay-to-win and those who love paying for skins and special weapons will be able to do so.

Try Shadowgun Legends, that looks up there too.

I wish for something like that with an actual AAA story, no microtransactions, and MFI game controller support. I'd love a Switch-Lite experience like that.

 

[JagdTiger]

Here is the amazon version.

http://www.businessinsider.com/skyr...on-echo-alexa-bethesda-video-2018-6?r=UK&IR=T

 

[lec0rsaire]

Try Shadowgun Legends, that looks up there too.

I wish for something like that with an actual AAA story, no microtransactions, and MFI game controller support. I'd love a Switch-Lite experience like that.

So do I. It pains me to see the potential of these ARM SoC’s going to waste with the freemium model. Devices with the A10 and newer are strong enough to rival console graphics. Right now the best games on iOS are paid platformers like Oddmar, Super MARIO Run and old classics like Rockstar’s PS2 titles: Max Payne, all the GTAs and the excellent KOTOR port. The sports games are ok but they never require as much horsepower similar to fighting games.

It would be amazing to see what developers like Naughty Dog could do if they set out to make a AAA iOS title. People are willing to pay for quality. We might see things get better once the Mac App Store has iOS stuff. Since games will have to be made with Metal we might see something special if people are willing to pay for these superior experiences.

 

[tipoo]

So do I. It pains me to see the potential of these ARM SoC’s going to waste with the freemium model. Devices with the A10 and newer are strong enough to rival console graphics. Right now the best games on iOS are paid platformers like Oddmar, Super MARIO Run and old classics like Rockstar’s PS2 titles: Max Payne, all the GTAs and the excellent KOTOR port. The sports games are ok but they never require as much horsepower similar to fighting games.

It would be amazing to see what developers like Naughty Dog could do if they set out to make a AAA iOS title. People are willing to pay for quality. We might see things get better once the Mac App Store has iOS stuff. Since games will have to be made with Metal we might see something special if people are willing to pay for these superior experiences.

Well Naughty Dog is fully funded by Sony so that would be amazing but unlikely. But I think Apple should start funding their own game developments, get a few indie studios at least to really push the hardware.

The Apple TV in particular could be a nifty microconsole with an actively cooled A10X and controller support, and they dropped the wand controller requirement a while ago.

They just need to fund those games, maybe even have an in-house project. Or more partnerships with Nintendo, but for high end exclusives (or shared with Switch) this time, if Nintendo is willing to do that.

 

[lec0rsaire]

Well Naughty Dog is fully funded by Sony so that would be amazing but unlikely. But I think Apple should start funding their own game developments, get a few indie studios at least to really push the hardware.

The Apple TV in particular could be a nifty microconsole with an actively cooled A10X and controller support, and they dropped the wand controller requirement a while ago.

They just need to fund those games, maybe even have an in-house project. Or more partnerships with Nintendo, but for high end exclusives (or shared with Switch) this time, if Nintendo is willing to do that.

That would be awesome. Especially considering Apple has moved away from focusing on creative professionals in favor of becoming a lifestyle company. They don't even need to use to the sort of hardware that the Xbox One X is using. The Switch has already demonstrated what can be done and even the PS Vita before that which utilized a quad core (SGX543MP4+) implementation of the SGX543MP2 in the iPhone 4s. The iPad 3 used the MP4 but since it was driving twice the amount of pixels, I found that gaming performance on the 4s and iPad 2 was actually superior albeit at lower resolutions.