Elder Scrolls Online turns Skyrim world into an MMO: report

Fans of the Elder Scrolls franchise will soon be able to trudge through Tamriel in a sweeping new MMO, according to a recent report. 

A screenshot from Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. An Elder Scrolls MMO is in the works.

Bethesda Softworks

May 3, 2012

The Elder Scrolls, the long-running RPG franchise, is finally coming online, courtesy of Bethesda Softworks. According to Game Informer, The Elder Scrolls Online will be developed by ZeniMax Online Studios, and will hit Macs and PCs sometime early next year. 

"It will be extremely rewarding finally to unveil what we have been developing the last several years," game director Matt Firor told the team at Game Informer. "The entire team is committed to creating the best MMO ever made – and one that is worthy of The Elder Scrolls franchise."

Details about The Elder Scrolls MMO remain vague. Apparently the action takes place a millennium before the events described in the recently-released – and much-loved – "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim." The bad guy is a daedric prince with the improbable name of Molag Bal, who attempts to spread ruin across all of the land of Tamriel. 

Ukraine’s nationalist Azov fighters, once sanctioned by US, strive to clear name

Skyrim, Horizons readers will remember, launched last year to mostly rave reviews. "Other RPGs such as Disgaea and Final Fantasy XII may rival the total hours of gameplay one can derive from Skyrim," one critic wrote, "but they can only do so through mass quantities of grinding. What they can’t rival is Skyrim’s incalculable amount of content and the sheer variety it has to offer." 

Can't wait for The Elder Scrolls MMO to arrive? Well, navigate over to the exhaustive Elder Scrolls Wiki, which has a long entry on Molag Bal. Sample: "Molag Bal resembles a large, bipedal crossbreed of a monkey and snake, and usually comes in a form adorned with horns, claws, and a long tail." Sounds like a handsome guy. 

For more tech news, follow us on Twitter @venturenaut.