The Elder Scrolls Online “Was Never Planned to Come to Consoles”, Sony Convinced Bethesda to do it

Gamescom award winning The Elder Scrolls Online is set to come out next year on PS4, Xbox One, PC and Mac, but if it wasn’t for the efforts of Sony’s third party relations team, it would have been a PC/Mac exclusive.

Adam Boyes, VP, Publisher & Developer Relations at SCEA, told GameInformer:

Bethesda… cooking up the whole The Elder Scrolls Online deal – that game was never planned to come to consoles and we just kind of kept sitting with them and being like, ‘Why not? PS4′s…’

As we’re sort of disclosing the team and telling them more about the details, I’m like, ‘There’s no reason – I love MMOs and I love The Elder Scrolls.’ So I was like, ‘Why don’t you do this?’ They’re like, ‘We’re not planning it.’ I’m like, ‘Well, what if we built a plan that we could do that?’

Getting that, knowing that a game’s coming to console that was never going to come to consoles, that’s the kind of stuff that is like, “yes!”, you know, hugely awesome.

Of course, with TESO charging $14.99/€12.99/£8.99 a month, whether the game will be a success is up for debate, but at least we now have the choice.

Bethesda: “The time for convincing publishers to support Wii U has long past”

Pete Hines highlights flaws in Nintendo’s third-party strategy.

Bethesda’s Pete Hines had some choice words regarding Nintendo’s third-party strategy, suggesting that the time for getting better software support for the Wii U may have already passed.

In an interview with Game Trailers‘ Bonus Round, Bethesda’s vice president of PR and marketing underlined the company’s commitment to making its games available on every platform – as long as those platforms don’t require compromise on the original vision.

As far as Bethesda’s games are concerned, that has led to their absence on Nintendo hardware despite their huge popularity. And Hines intimated that the situation is representative of Nintendo’s approach to third-party developers as a whole.

“The time for convincing publishers and developers to support Wii U has long past. The box is out,” Hine said, while sitting on a panel that also included Borderlands 2 lead writer Anthony Burch.

Hines pointed to Sony and Microsoft’s diligent and long-running efforts to communicate with third parties during the hardware design process as a better strategy for most developers.

“It’s not that every time we met with them we got all the answers we wanted, but they involved us very early on, and talking to folks like Bethesda and Gearbox, they say ‘here’s what we’re doing, here’s what we’re planning, here’s how we think it’s going to work’ to hear what we thought – from our tech guys and from an experience standpoint.

“You have to spend an unbelievable amount of time upfront doing that. If you’re just going, ‘we’re going to make a box and this is how it works and you should make games for it.’ Well, no. No is my answer. I’m going to focus on other ones that better support what it is we’re trying to do.”

This adds colour to comments Hines made in an earlier interview, where he stated that the Wii U was, “not on [Bethesda’s] radar.” Nintendo is now attempting to address the Wii U’s less than admirable position by cutting $50 off its price.

 

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Bethesda wants Elder Scrolls Online accessible without Xbox Live Gold

Bethesda is working with Microsoft to possibly get the Xbox maker to drop the Xbox Live Gold requirement for its upcoming MMO, The Elder Scrolls Online. The publisher wants Microsoft to make a special exemption for their MMO on the console, in hopes that more people will be able to play the game without having to be an Xbox Live Gold subscriber.

“We have been in talks with Microsoft about that very thing, and seeing whether or not there’s any room to change their minds about that,” Hines told OXM. “For folks who are only paying for The Elder Scrolls Online and don’t want to pay for an Xbox Live Gold Subscription, just to pay for The Elder Scrolls Online.”

It’s unclear what type of progress Bethesda has made with Microsoft about waiving the requirement. According to the recent statement, Hines doesn’t sound like Microsoft is going to bend on their long time policy. However, if successful, it could set a precedence for other subscription based or free-to-play games to arrive on the console that aren’t stuck behind a paywall.

Right now, this is one of the major differences between the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4. While both Sony and Microsoft will both offer subscription based games like TESO, and other free-to-play titles, Xbox Live Gold is required for any online play on the Xbox One. Sony’s PlayStation 4 free-to-play games are not gated behind the subscription service.

We’ll have to wait and see if Bethesda is successful in swaying Microsoft’s policy.

 

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Three Dog Voice Actor Teases Possibility Of A New “Fallout” Game Or Movie

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Yesterday, Erik Dellums, the actor who voices Three Dog in Fallout 3, posted a tweet that hinted at a possible fourth Fallout video game — or perhaps a related movie.

Hit the break to read the tweet and what it may mean.

 

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Dellums’ tweet reads:

To all my #Fallout3 and #ThreeDog fans: There may be more of the Dog coming! Fingers crossed!

Later, he tweeted that he was given permission to tease that. Though he couldn’t come out and guarantee a fourth game or a film, it’s clear that one or the other is a possibility. He even retweeted a fan who said all this must mean “either 3 Dog in the fallout sequel or 3 Dog in Fallout Movie.”

If you’re a fan of the Fallout video game series by Bethesda, it seems the best thing to do at this point is listen to Dellums’ suggestion: cross your fingers.

[Twitter, VG247]

Skyrim Dawnguard PS3 DLC Release Close to Happening?

The lack of this particular content ever getting a release date on Sony’s platform has been a serious point of contention for owners of that version of the “Elder Scrolls V.” While Dawnguard had a release date in June for Xbox 360 gamers, it appeared it would never see the light of day for those with the Sony PS3. However, that may soon change as a new tweet from Bethesda Studios brings hope.
The company tweeted earlier this evening of Wednesday, November 7th:

“To update: we’re also close on new Skyrim content for PS3 and PC.”

The tweet follows several others the company had regarding the game a few days ago. One involved the new trailer for Dragonborn DLC, while another updated fans that an update to the creation kit for Skyrim is now available on Steam. The latest one is rather unclear on what content is being talked about, and teases fans that something will finally be available for their version of the game.

The rumors will now start to swirl over exactly which DLC they’re talking about here. Some gamers are hopeful it means the Dawnguard add-on they have lacked for months. Others believe it will mean the upcoming Dragonborn DLC. At this point, Playstation 3 owners are likely to welcome any downloadable content for their game, as it’s been a serious issue with their version of the “Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” game.

 

Souce: by Matt Clark