Cue An End Productivity: An Elder Scrolls MMO Is Coming

Because those hundreds of hours you put into Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim weren't enough, there will now be a truly endless version of The Elder Scrolls. Say goodbye to everyone that's not planning to join you there.

Via gameinformer.com

Today, Game Informer revealed that the long rumored massively multiplayer game set in The Elder Scrolls universe will, in fact, be happening. This announcement should end speculation on whether future installments will finally include multiplayer, and should also introduce a whole new swath of addicts to the series.

It doesn't look like the primary Bethesda team behind Skyrim and the past titles in the series will be heading the title. Rather, it has been in the works for several years already, and is being developed by the Zenimax Online Studios team (overseen by director Matt Firor, who also worked on the much loved Dark Age of Camelot MMO).

Details are somewhat bare at the moment, but it looks like we're due to receive a lot more in the coming days, with, Game Informer's "Elder Scrolls Online hub, which will feature new exclusive content multiple times each week." Later this afternoon they will be featuring the first screenshot, and tomorrow will be unveiling a short teaser trailer. The print edition of Game Informer June issue will also have a full feature on the game.

So far, all that is known is that the game is due in 2013 for PC and Mac, and is set a millenium before the events of Skyrim as, "the daedric prince Molag Bal tries to pull all of Tamriel into his demonic realm." It will have three player factions, and looks to be a PvP driven open world affair.

There's a lot still to be revealed, but pressing questions include:

Will it still primarily be from the first-person perspective?

Will the combat still be action based, or will it take the traditional MMO click-a-skill-and-wait-for-the-queue format?

More importantly, will this really feel like The Elder Scrolls as an epic, multiplayer endeavor, or will it cave to stale multiplayer mechanics? I guess we won't have to wait too long to find out more, and no doubt the game will have a large presence at this year's E3 conference.

Check back later for the game's first screenshot, and tomorrow for the teaser trailer.

UPDATE

Here's the game's incredibly boring teaser trailer that shows nothing.

Leaked game details are very disappointing, and it sounds like nothing more than a generic MMO and an absolute disappointment.

Some 'highlights':

-Third person perspective

-The game uses a hotbar to activate skills like other traditional MMOs

-Visually it looks like other Hero Engine MMOs like SWTOR

-The general art style is kind of like RIFT or Everquest 2

You can read more from the article leak here.