Today on stage during the Bethesda E3 Showcase, the company announced a brand new game called Elder Scrolls: Blades. Promising to bring the title to “every device and system that we can,” the game will support VR all the way from mobile to high-end headsets.

Todd Howard, director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios, introduced Elder Scrolls: Blades as a smartphone-first title, but said the company wants to bring it to as many platforms as possible, including VR, and offer crossplay between all supported platforms. It hasn’t yet been announced exactly which VR platforms the game will launch on, but this will be Bethesda’s first mobile VR title. During their E3 presentation tonight, the company also revealed new VR games based on Prey and Wolfenstein.

The company showed off how the game could be played on a smartphone with tap-to-move locomotion and swipe-based combat, either in portrait or landscape mode; ostensibly the controls will be customized for each platform, but it wasn’t yet shown how it would play on console, PC, or VR. The game will launch this Fall for free on iOS and Android, but Bethesda hasn’t specified if other platforms will see a simultaneous launch.

Howard described the game as being an Elder Scrolls game at its core, saying that players would be able to battle through both handcrafted and procedurally generated dungeons, while using melee attacks, ranged attacks, and a variety of abilities and spells. Players can expect to create and customize their own character as they level up and unlock new abilities.

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Image courtesy Bethesda
Image courtesy Bethesda
Image courtesy Bethesda
Image courtesy Bethesda

Elder Scrolls: Blades will have several game modes, including Abyss, where players see how far they can make it through an infinite dungeon; Arena, where players can fight each other; and Town, a hub space where players can build up their base, and invite friends to come see what they’ve built.

Elder Scrolls: Blades will launch later this year, but between now and June 15th the company has opened pre-registration for players interested in an Early Access release.

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • oompah

    wow
    playing elderscrolls on cellphone or a tablet
    a dream come true
    I must say that the grahics system(engine) is
    THE best of all games , it is light
    it is well coordinated with other actions
    it feels natural to use
    as if u r there especially
    the special edition in which details r taken care of
    o that u can see closeups
    THUMBS UP

  • MarquisDeSang

    I would give my soul for the Oculus Go version.

    • Downvote King

      I don’t know about my soul, but given this tidbit from the article:

      “this will be Bethesda’s first mobile VR title”

      I can’t imagine this doesn’t mean at least Go and Gear VR, if not Daydream and whatever the Mirage uses. This could be a game changer; there are no fully fledged RPGs available for mobile VR currently, as far as I know, and this seems like the perfect use.. might almost be that “killer app” we’ve all been waiting for. That or remote desktop with an AR keyboard…

  • Get Schwifty!

    It was as if the voice of a billion gamers all cried out at once….

  • FranzDa

    Am i the only one not impressed with this. In fact really disappointing with this?
    Games are downgrading form awesome games with awesome gameplay to mobile games without no need of skills and no real difficulty?

    • JJ

      lol while on the other side of it all of Xbox’s new releases look like theyre graphics were made for mobile. interesting..

    • Raphael

      You’re not alone flappy. Dumb people exist in vast numbers. Numbers so vast that not even RoadtoVR article comment section can escape.

      • FranzDa

        hooo tank you Raphael, i was afraid of being the only one!

    • brandon9271

      No FranzDa, you aren’t the only person that has longed for full VR games instead of “experiences”, watered-down mobile games or half-assed ports. However, I don’t really blame developers. I mean, if you look at the numbers on Steam it doesn’t make a lot of sense to invest heavily in a VR game with such a niche audience. Cheap mobile headsets and lower budget mobile games are the way forward i suppose. As much as it pains me to admit it

  • Raphael

    A big name in game publishing fully committing to VR and showing all the other more cowardly non-VR publishers how it should be done. You know.. those developers who are “waiting to see if VR takes hold”.

    • At least you’ll support their effort despite how you may feel about certain ones

  • oompah

    wow
    Thumbs up

  • kool

    So is this n prey for psvr?

  • Master E

    Maybe someone could educate me on this, but why hasn’t some developer come up with an engine that supports and or creates games in both VR and regular versions.. I’d imagine the technology is there to create something of this manner.

    Ie they could develop a game that satisfies both platforms with relatively the same work time. It would bring all sorts of stuff to VR and not dent developers pockets in having to invest too much separate time for VR. It would be hugely cost effective and help drive the VR industry without taking away from regular formats.