Elder Scrolls Online Closed Beta Signups Now Open

By Kevin Parrish, Catherine Cai
published

You can now sign up for the closed beta of The Elder Scrolls Online.

Bethesda announced on Tuesday morning that signups for the Elder Scrolls Online closed beta is now open at ElderScrollsOnline.com. Players will be selected based on their hardware configuration, beta experience, gameplay style and more. Chosen participants will know more details and the actual timing of Bethesda's testing program at a later date, the company said.

"We’re really excited to get the game into players’ hands,” said Matt Firor, game director of The Elder Scrolls Online. “We receive invaluable feedback through the beta process, and that helps us ensure that the game will be one of the best online gaming experiences ever offered -- one worthy of The Elder Scrolls franchise."

The Elder Scrolls Online answers what many fans have called on for years: a persistent Elder Scrolls world. Using ZeniMax Online’s Megaserver technology, players will join one connected world with a built in social network that lets them stay up-to-date with everything their friends are doing. Megaserver technology avoids the hassle of shard selection, the company said.

The Elder Scrolls Online is slated for release in 2013 and is being developed by ZeniMax Online Studios. The studio is headed up by industry veteran Matt Firor who has more than 20 years of online game development experience including Mythic Entertainment's popular Dark Age of Camelot and its first two expansions.

"Whether playing alone, or with hundreds of friends, players can develop their own style of play as they embark upon an epic quest across Tamriel, the company said.

PC gamers with Macs will be happy to hear that they won't be left out of the loop this time. However, it seems that Windows 8 owners may have to take pause, as the entry from asks individuals to run DxDiag on Windows Vista and 7 only. We've reached out to Bethesda and ZeniMax on more information and will provide updates as soon as we hear back. UPDATE: Bethesda has confirmed Windows 8 support.

To sign up for the beta, head here. Completing all the optional sections will significantly increase your chances of being selected for beta participation, the form states. DirextX Diagnostic Tool info will be required to submit the closed beta application.

No specific release date for Elder Scrolls Online has been provided yet, though Bethesda has stated that it will be sometime in 2013. Considering that closed beta is launching sometime soon, it won't be surprising if the game launches before the second half of the year.

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Kevin Parrish
24 Comments Comment from the forums
  • hythos
    Too bad their sign-up completion returns 404.
    Reply
  • edogawa
    I'm sorry, but this MMO sounds and looks incredibly generic.

    I enjoyed TES games deeply for the story, adventure, theme, and experience.

    Mods are what made the game so much better too, I have over 80 mods for Skyrim right now.

    This MMO will have none of what makes TES games fun. I am calling flop right now. I will sign up to give it a feel in case I am wrong, but I doubt I am.

    Their effort should be dedicated to more single player TES games with features such as co-op.
    Reply
  • Nakal
    I may try the beta, just to see if it can match a TES experience.

    I would love to see a Multiplayer TES though (not MMO), kind of like how Borderlands 2 is setup.
    Reply
  • gm0n3y
    TES is likely my favorite game series of all time. That being said, I have never played an MMO that was worth the time. If you aren't into playing in groups then there is just no point in playing. I'll take a good single player campaign over multiplayer any day.
    Reply
  • NightLight
    i'm still in skyrim
    Reply
  • leo2kp
    I've played DAoC for years and the TES PvP model is very similar. I'm a fan and I can't wait to see how it is implemented in TESO.
    Reply
  • bllue
    Signing up in hopes to see for myself what they've come up with. I'm not scratching the idea completely because there's a possibility that they could make a decent MMORPG that is unlike the ones we've seen so far and already the MMO has shown to be far from being a WOW clone in terms of combat, questing, stats, etc.
    Reply
  • calmstateofmind
    Will definitely be giving it a shot.
    Reply
  • d_kuhn
    I'm waiting for the newest DLC to hit the PC (a bit unhappy that they seem to be humping the 360 leg these days instead of their core of longtime supporters on the PC)
    Reply
  • Onihikage
    However, it seems that Windows 8 owners may have to take pause, as the entry from asks individuals to run DxDiag on Windows Vista and 7 only.
    It says no such thing - it only asks to paste the dxdiag results there, and includes instructions on how to do so in Windows Vista/7. Those of us with Windows 8 merely have to figure out how to run it ourselves (right-click the lower-left corner > Run > type 'dxdiag' > press enter)
    Reply