‘Elder Scrolls Online’ Free Weekend Offered To Beta Players
The Elder Scrolls Online is now a buy-to-play game, letting players simply buy the client and play without a monthly subscription. The previously pay-to-play title transitioned to a buy-to-play model last month on PC. Beta players that never purchased the game now have an opportunity to check it out completely free with next weekend’s Welcome Back Weekend. ZeniMax Online Studios, the developer of the game, announced the free weekend via the official Twitter account for The Elder Scrolls Online today.
“A lot has changed since The Elder Scrolls Online beta, and we want you to discover all the new adventures waiting for you in Tamriel. From Thursday, April 16th at 10:00 AM EDT through Monday, April 20th at 10:00 AM EDT, we’re inviting all beta players who never purchased the game to join us for a free weekend!”
Only players who participated in The Elder Scrolls Online beta but never purchased the game are eligible for the Welcome Back Weekend. For those four days, those players will not need to have the client purchased in order to play the game. These players should receive an email informing them on how and where to download the client. They are instructed to download the client as soon as possible considering the game needs around 80 GB of disk space to operate. The entire client must be downloaded in order to start playing.
After the Welcome Back Weekend’s end date, these players will need to purchase The Elder Scrolls Online client to continue playing. The game is usually $60 but players that wish to play in any Alliance or play as an Imperial will need to purchase the Imperial Edition for $80. Although the game is buy-to-play, the optional subscription that comes with a few bonuses, including a crown stipend and DLC access for the duration of the subscription, is $15 per month. Crowns are used in the in-game shop to buy premium items like mounts and clothes. The Imperial Edition unlocks are also sold as a bundle in the crown store as well.
As the Inquisitr reported, the console version of The Elder Scrolls Online is on its way to its release. The console version will share the same hybrid model of buy-to-play with optional subscription. The game will release on Playstation 4 and Xbox One on June 9 and require Playstation Plus and Xbox Live Gold respectively.
Does the buy-to-play model make an MMO more attractive, or does the payment model not affect your MMO purchasing decisions?
[Images via ElderScrollsOnline.com]
