Zenimax Online Studios have removed the option for a six month subscription in The Elder Scrolls Online. The removal comes with no official announcement from Zenimax, although on the French forums the reason given by a moderator was that players simply prefer the smaller subscription amounts.
Naturally the removal of six month subscriptions has started rumours and discussions of Zenimax introducing a possible free to play model for The Elder Scrolls Online soon. The Elder Scrolls Online officially launched in April 2014 and reportedly had 772,000 subscribers in June 2014.
The idea of free to play for an MMOPRG is usually scoffed at by most of the gaming community. However, there have been examples in the past of MMORPG’s converting to the free to play route and ultimately being more successful. A very recent example being Star Wars The Old Republic. SWTOR originally launched with a monthly subscription model before adopting the F2P model that it uses now. The game uses a very fair F2P model, with a purely cosmetic shop and the option to subscribe for the normal monthly fee and unlock all of the game’s content.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see The Elder Scrolls Online take a similar route to SWTOR. The game was underwhelming to a lot of people, but a new F2P model could bring in a lot more players and ultimately make the game much more successful for Zenimax.
Source: Elder Scrolls Online official forums
What are your thoughts on the possibility of The Elder Scrolls Online taking the free to play route? Let me know in the comments section below.