How much longer do we have?

sleepy_worm

How much longer do you think we have before ESO dies? Customer perception is important to the success of a live service game, so it would be interesting to see what people think. (Microsoft is the elephant in the room here.)

So how long do you think we have before we stop getting content updates?

tomofhyrule

Didn't we literally have this thread less than three weeks ago?

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/684117/with-the-ways-things-are-currently-going-how-long-do-you-think-eso-has-left/p1

Pops_ND_Irish

More than 10 years

More than 10
I enjoy playing, the game is thriving, despite this.

StackonClown

2-5 years

gotta say - it will be life changing if/when ESO shuts down.. I will literally take vacation for the final days to say goodbye

colossalvoids

Doesn't really matter but we're on a spiral already

Morvan

More than 10 years

I'm still optimistic right now, but this could change really fast depending on the direction they take in the next year or two.

ESO did degrade this year, but I'm still giving them the benefit of the doubt judging by how many things were going on, Microsoft layoffs, a project that was supposedly draining resources cancelled, new studio head, among tons of other things we have no idea of.

We got a dubious change on the DLC format, no cinematic, lackluster PTS patches, and so forth, my only hope is that ALL of this is just a consequence of the things happening behind the courtains, a temporary issue, not just Microsoft watering down the amount of resources in the game to profit more.

If the latter is true though, then yes, it will probably go downhill fast.

sleepy_worm

1-2 years

tomofhyrule wrote: »

Didn't we literally have this thread less than three weeks ago?

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/684117/with-the-ways-things-are-currently-going-how-long-do-you-think-eso-has-left/p1

Thank you so much for your input.

RebornV3x

5-10 years

Its too early to tell 2026 is the make or break ZOS has to go all out at this point if not than 2027 will probably be maintenance mode until they eventually turn the servers off. The thing is Elder Scrolls is a pretty established well known IP I don't see them pulling the plug anytime soon even if they released Elder Scrolls 6 I think that would only help ESO in the really long term. I guess well have to wait and see what ZOS does next year.

SkaiFaith

To be honest I'm less worried about Zos closing ESO and more worried about Microsoft closing/ruining half the world of gaming because "profit!" or "new audience!" or "AI!" or any reason really, looking at all the stuff they abandoned/destroied over the years...

But yeah, personally ESO is the only one I care atm and it would be kinda devastating losing it.

Auberon1983

5-10 years

Realistically? Likely 5-10 years, not do so much to direction, but engine limitations. Also, all it would really take is for another MMO to come on the scene and actually not fail (the MMO graveyard is haunted), and then you'd see a significant player drop, to the point ESO no longer becomes profitable. Like it or not, that's just business.

It will be a very sad day for me. I've made honest to goodness friendships through this game, and those friends and the community are what keep me here.

Edit - Glaring and annoying typo

Grafahel

5-10 years

I think it has a good 5-10 years to go before its age is really going to become a problem. I play on a modern PC and most newer games I play on 4k or 1440p, usually with raytracing and all those bells and whistles, but this game is still extremely beautiful to me.
As for the ' perception', the online community for any game is usually full of doom and gloom as gamers tend to be negative people, and I noticed for this game especially, must be something about MMO folks and the age group. People who love the game spend more time playing it and less time posting about it.

But I sometimes think about ESO going offline and it makes me very sad. To think about all those places, characters, stories we've played through and the stories we created ourselves through our characters and RP, just going out like a fart in the wind, it's almost unimaginably sad.

PapaTankers

2-5 years

Im leaning more into 1-2 years territory, but I voted 2-5 because I dont think they will straight up shut down the game before that.

Next year announcement will either make or break the playerbase. Even their most loyal supporters are angry with them.

AvalonRanger

1-2 years

I'm anxious about production power recently.
Definitely, recent DLC story contents volume are getting small.

The story quest has good enough quality, dungeon or trial are
also good quality. However the world became smaller and smaller.

Can't we meet Skyrim size DLC anymore?

MISTFORMBZZZ

1-2 years

On PC i would say 1-2 years.
As speaking for console , where im playing, i would say its less. Considering how dead it is already.

Btw. another poll like this was closed quite quick, so i guess its just a question of time.

Grafahel

5-10 years

I also feel like there's 2 different groups of players: Elder scrolls fans and MMO players. The latter group might move on to some newer MMO down the line, but I think the game will have a loyal core group of Elder Scrolls fans for much longer, probably until the next Elder Scrolls MMO comes out. If you love this world it feels like home, and I've seen lots of people (like me) who got into this game because they love Tamriel, not because they were looking for an MMO.

MISTFORMBZZZ

1-2 years

Grafahel wrote: »

I also feel like there's 2 different groups of players: Elder scrolls fans and MMO players. The latter group might move on to some newer MMO down the line, but I think the game will have a loyal core group of Elder Scrolls fans for much longer, probably until the next Elder Scrolls MMO comes out. If you love this world it feels like home, and I've seen lots of people (like me) who got into this game because they love Tamriel, not because they were looking for an MMO.

These are probably the people treating the game as a solo player game. Im sorry to be that guy, but these wont be enought to pay the bills.

I have whitnessed games i love shutting down before and i see the parallels.

PathosDante

2-5 years

As someone who has tried many MMORPGs, I can say that in terms of "pay to win," this game is definitely very positive. Just having ESO+ is almost enough, and I don’t think that counts as “pay to win.” The combat mechanics are also better than in most MMORPGs — even though they’re often criticized.

Ulvich

More than 10 years

ESO isn't going anywhere. People kept saying and asking this same question about WoW. And it is still going after 20+ years.
ESO has been going through a lot of changes. Some good, and some bad. Their customer support has gotten "a little" better from days gone by, and the game's mechanics could use some tweaking here and there. And Microsoft itself needs serous help but the game is still solid.

scrappy1342

1-2 years

longer than the amount of time until they lock this post

Old_Foggy

Every game I ever played you get the same thing, is it dead yet ? is it going to die soon ? Just keep playing the game, who knows it may outlast you.

Lucjan

5-10 years

It will be around for quite a while since it has a stable player base (no massive peaks followed by large downturns) making it predictable in terms of investment. As long as people are paying, there is reason to keep it going.

With pricing on the expensive side in terms of crowns and crown store, these days it doesn't matter that much how many players you have in a MMO, what matters is how much the ones that are there are spending.

smallhammer

Another one of "ESO dies?" Or how long till ESO dies? Sigh.

vuwuv

1-2 years

Unless they change their attitude...

Grafahel

5-10 years

MISTFORMBZZZ wrote: »

These are probably the people treating the game as a solo player game. Im sorry to be that guy, but these wont be enought to pay the bills.

I am playing the game as a solo game, I subscribe to ESO+ more often than not and buy about 15-20000 crowns per year, so I would say I am in fact paying the bills.

Vaqual

A video games wellbeing isn't bound to an inevitable fate, it is completely controllable by the publishers, owners and developers. As long as there is an interested playerbase they can modulate their efforts up or down and still be profitable in one way or another. How many potato farmers go to the potato forum after a bad crop and make such polls. "Bros, I think that is it. Potatoes are done man." The farmer may have failed temporarily, but the product is still in demand, the ground is still workable.

Obviously, the best advertisement for an MMO is steady (positive) development and a happy playerbase. With this years performance they will take a hit. Expressing their dissatisfaction is the best the customers can do, and ZOS have sunk costs just as much as the players.
But abandoning the product for a newly developed one with the current market prognoses would just be plain dumb. Maybe that is why they scratched the other ZOS game. The gaming market is finite, there are only so many hours you can play in a day. As long as they have nothing to adequately replace ESO it makes no sense to let it go, they would just risk driving their customers to the competition. And if they think the solution lies in cheap indy-tier trash games, well, they can go ahead and see how that works out. Probably just as well as the mobile hype did.

What ZOS needs to do is to make less bad choices, less negative contributions, less breaking the game. Don't hurt the world building or the immersion by recycling key assets or writing contradicting lore. Basically: "Just don't do bad stuff". Then they will have time to breathe. It may hurt the interns feelings or the pride of an out of touch dev, but if the idea/product is trash it shouldn't go into the game. End of that story.
And honestly, if management is killing profits with stupid decisions, let the board know and go for the bonuses of the noobs that are responsible for that. No one should get away with Sears-level of self-sabotaging.

A game is a product. When it is well managed both the developer and the players win. The players like to give money for good things. Really simple economics.

LunaFlora

More than 10 years

zos has said 30 years so unless the studio suddenly stops we will at least get another 19 years

Onomog

1-2 years

LunaFlora wrote: »

zos has said 30 years so unless the studio suddenly stops we will at least get another 19 years

I've noticed a pretty wide gap between what they say and what actually happens. I point to the current event as a more recent example.

AScarlato

2-5 years

I am hoping the game does well, since I've been playing for 5 years now. There is a lot I love as a solo player who enjoys story and lore, voice acting, and RP/Housing.

That said, based on what I saw on the PTR forums for Eastern Solstice, I think it's time they break the fire glass for more fan service.

Since Darien has a full romance scene for some players, time to add him as a Companion (which unlocks houseguest). Then give us a female Smolder Scrolls option in Naryu. Keep bringing back our romance options for development each year for updates.

Or if they really wanted drama, revive Gabrielle and have her be our romance so the Vestige can really ruin their relationship.

Of course they can be added as friendship-only options too. But I think ESO should continue to make more use of beloved characters so it feels like a cast we are attached to, like XIV.

ShadowPaladin

According to Quadrillions other threads about this topic the game has already died a long, long, long, ... , long time ago. Way before it was released and way before the original creator of The Elder Scrolls even had the idea for TES !!!

So, no point in asking the question over and over again. Just close this thread and be done with it !

AzuraFan

Hard to say. I'd like to say more than 10 years, because I think there's enough whales and other players that it could last that long. But given what Amazon Studios just did, and given that ESO is owned by Microsoft, it's possible that even if the population is healthy, the game could be shut down. There's too much of a wild card factor for me to make a prediction.

AScarlato

2-5 years

AzuraFan wrote: »

Hard to say. I'd like to say more than 10 years, because I think there's enough whales and other players that it could last that long. But given what Amazon Studios just did, and given that ESO is owned by Microsoft, it's possible that even if the population is healthy, the game could be shut down. There's too much of a wild card factor for me to make a prediction.

It is hard to predict how these soulless large companies handle products we care about, but with ESO it is a pretty visible game. If they are working on ES6, I'm hoping they'd keep ESO around to prevent any damage to the IP's reputation that would be caused by shutting it down.

Fingers crossed for everyone they turn things around. I like some of what I've seen with the new dialogue options and hope we get many more stories that use this as an RPG player, but they need the budget and support to keep the content coming in all aspects of the game.