The Elder Scrolls Online is free-to-play until April 26
Base game and expansions also heavily discounted.
The Elder Scrolls Online, ZeniMax Online Studios' massively multiplayer take on Bethesda's fantasy world, is free-to-play for the next week. Players can try out the base game plus its well-regarded Morrowind DLC anytime between now and April 26.
The free-trial lets you experiment with four different classes, and enables access to the Battlegrounds and Alliance War PvP. You can explore all the zones in the base game, Skyrim, Hammerfell etc, plus Morrowind's island of Vvadernfell, added in the expansion.
The trial also runs alongside a bunch of discounts for TESO and its expansions. The standard edition of the base game can currently be grabbed for 70% off at £4.49. Alternatively, you can get The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood, which bundles in the base game alongside all the major expansions – Morrowind, Summerset, Elsweyr, Greymoor and Blackwood – for 67% off at £14.18.
All this arrives in anticipation of TESO's upcoming expansion High Isle. Launching in June, High Isle will bring players to the Systres archipelago, a brand new location that's never been depicted by any previous Elder Scrolls game. Here, players will get a chance to the lore and culture of the Bretons, who have tended to linger on the sidelines throughout the series.
I haven't played The Elder Scrolls Online since it launched in 2014. At the time I found it underwhelming, but it's reportedly improved a lot over the last eight years. Checking in on it just over a year ago, MJ Guthrie said "the difference between 2014 and now is striking. There is much to do, and you aren't tied to any single path. Folks jumping in now will find a vast number of delves, dungeons, and story arcs to occupy their time as well as crafting, PvP, housing, collections, and different types of treasure hunting."
Hence, if like me you dismissed Bethesda's MMO on launch, now would be an opportune time to give it a second look. You can find the free trial over on Steam, while the various discounts are listed on the Steam page.