Bethesda Releases 'The Elder Scrolls: Legends', Reveals Future Expansions

Bethesda announced that The Elder Scrolls: Legends digital card game is now officially available on PC. The company also revealed its first PvE expansion, "The Fall of The Dark Brotherhood," and offered information about future updates expected to debut between now and this Summer.

The Elder Scrolls: Legends is a strategy card game set in the Elder Scrolls franchise's home continent of Tamriel. It's free to download, but you can also purchase more packs of cards if you don't feel like waiting for the game to give them out at semi-regular intervals. In that sense it's much like Hearthstone, the digital card game based on Blizzard's Warcraft series, which debuted in 2014 and has received several expansions in the time since.

Bethesda's hoping to make up for lost time with an aggressive release schedule. Even though the game just came out on PC, the company plans to release The Fall of The Dark Brotherhood on April 5. The expansion will task players with infiltrating and bringing down the league of assassins. Bethesda said that players will be able "to make key choices that both impact which missions you’ll play and decide the story’s ending" in the add-on's missions.

The Fall of The Dark Brotherhood is broken up into three maps that can be purchased individually, as a $20 bundle, or with in-game currency. (Bethesda didn't say how much each map will cost on its own.) The expansion features more than 25 missions, 40 new cards, and three "Legendary" cards. You'll also receive a special Doom Wolf mount in The Elder Scrolls Online--an MMORPG based in the same universe--if you purchase this expansion.

The Elder Scrolls: Legends won't stop there. Bethesda described several new modes and expansions in its press release:

Twitch Integration and Spectator Mode – May will bring a major update that introduces Twitch integration and Spectator Mode, allowing players to more easily showcase their skills and watch live matches online to learn new strategies from the masters of the game.New Gauntlet Mode – Also in May, a Gauntlet mode will be introduced in which players will compete in mini-tournaments with their own decks. In addition to the current Ranked ladder, Gauntlets can be of different sizes and lengths and will give players new opportunities to join in-game competitions they can play at their own pace.Major Expansion This Summer – The Fall of the Dark Brotherhood is just the first of a number of new Stories and Sets coming to Legends in 2017, with the first new, large set scheduled for release this summer. More information on this set will be revealed at E3 2017 in June.

Nor will The Elder Scrolls: Legends be exclusive to PC. The game will jump from PC to iPad on March 23, debut on Android tablets in April, head to macOS this Spring, and finally reach Android smartphones and the iPhone this Summer. (This also mimics Hearthstone, which is already available on all of those platforms.) Bethesda said that it plans to reveal more information about these additional platforms and other expansions at E3 2017 in June.

You can learn more about The Elder Scrolls: Legends and The Fall of The Dark Brotherhood expansion on Bethesda's website.