Summary
- ESO keeps fans engaged with frequent story updates and exciting endgame content, offering hours of Elder Scrolls lore exploration.
- Gold Road, the latest chapter, introduces the return of the powerful Daedric Prince Ithelia, adding new twists to the ESO universe.
- Players can expect big gameplay updates in 2025, with the next major chapter likely to be announced in December 2024.
Massively multiplayer role-playing games or MMORPGs like The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) keep players interested through consistent updates to the game’s story and endgame. ESO has gone through more than 40 major updates throughout its decade of existence, giving fans hours upon hours of canon Elder Scrolls lore to explore. Its latest chapter, Gold Road, is part of ESO's 10th anniversary celebration. While there are big gameplay updates planned for the anniversary's roadmap, lore fans may have to wait until next year for a new chapter.
Continuing the Secrets of Apocrypha story arc, The Elder Scrolls Online’s Gold Road explores the return of the forgotten Daedric Prince Ithelia. She could control reality, which may threaten the universe’s whole existence. Therefore, she was imprisoned by her fellow Daedric Prince Hermaeus Mora before she could do any major damage. Players are once again called upon to fight on behalf of another Daedra, to stop the escaped Ithelia from resurrecting her plane Mirrormoor, which could give her immense power.
January is usually the month dedicated to roadmaps for ESO, so players may have to wait until then to get more news about what's ahead and what to expect throughout 2025. This most likely includes the next big chapter for ESO, which at best will be announced in December 2024.
ESO’s Gold Road Story is Over, But its Anniversary Celebrations Stretch Beyond 2024
Gold Road is the perfect kickoff for The Elder Scrolls Online’s anniversary celebration. Bethesda released the entirety of Gold Road’s storyline in the June 2024 DLC, so players have already had enough time to finish it. The chapter’s conclusion sees Ithelia, the once powerful Daedric Prince of Paths, willingly exiling herself into a reality where magic and Oblivion does not exist. Despite things circling back to the status quo, this chapter opens a lot of doors for the franchise’s future stories.
ESO’s writers seem to take The Elder Scrolls canon to new heights, despite the game being set centuries before the mainline games’ latest storyline. Its plot essentially reveals that TES could have multiple realities, which opens up a lot of storytelling opportunities for The Elder Scrolls 6, or possible spin-off games. Plus, the addition of a never-before-seen Daedric Prince has fans buzzing about the possibility of seeing new Daedras and Aedras in succeeding chapters or even new TES titles. However, players will have to wait a while before they sink their teeth into a new chapter, and even the wait for new information is going to be long considering the next roadmap is likely four or five months away.
When to Expect the New ESO Chapter in 2025
New chapters weren’t introduced to The Elder Scrolls Online until the Morrowind DLC was released three years later in 2017. Since then, ESO has pumped out similar major expansions annually. Here’s a quick look at all the chapters and their release dates on PC so far:
- Morrowind (June 6, 2017)
- Summerset (June 5, 2018)
- Elsweyr (June 4, 2019)
- Greymoor (June 10, 2020)
- Blackwood (June 1, 2021)
- High Isle (June 6, 2022)
- Necrom (June 5, 2023)
- Gold Road (June 3, 2024)
It’s easy to see at a glance that ESO has a consistent timeline for its chapter releases. They usually come out around early June, with the earliest release being Blackwood, and the latest one being Greymoor. Since Gold Road was only launched two months ago, fans will have to wait over a year for the new chapter.
However, players don’t have to stand by long for new content this 2024. Bethesda still has a lot of plans for ESO's 10th-anniversary celebration , which included free DLCs back in July. Update 43 releases on August 19 for PC and September 4 for consoles, which will launch a new housing feature known as “Home Tours.” This lets players visit other peoples’ houses and judge their knack for Tamriellian interior decoration. The update also adds new maps, enemies, loot, verses, and visions to the endgame mode Infinite Archive. Plus, ESO will also have in-person conventions later in the year up to early 2025. The developers usually like to announce new chapters around December, so players should keep an eye out for these events to get the latest scoop.
The Elder Scrolls Online
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 71 /100 Critics Rec: 39%
- Released
- April 4, 2014
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence
- Developer(s)
- ZeniMax Online Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda
- Engine
- proprietary engine, heroengine
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Franchise
- The Elder Scrolls
WHERE TO PLAY
Experience an ever-expanding story across all of Tamriel in The Elder Scrolls Online, an award-winning fantasy RPG. Explore a rich, living world with friends or embark upon a solo adventure. Ultimate freedom—Create your ultimate RPG character, play solo or adventure with friends, and determine your fate in an ever-expanding world. With no level restrictions, go anywhere at any time in a truly open world.
Choose your adventure—Begin your adventure where you like: emerge from Coldharbour in the Base Game, battle Dragons in the Elsweyr Chapter, or get ready to face the Prince of Destruction, Mehrunes Dagon, in Blackwood. All content is accessible for new players, and you can switch adventures whenever you like.
- Number of Players
- 1-4 (Co-Op)
- Platform(s)
- Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, macOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
- Genre(s)
- MMORPG
- How Long To Beat
- 160+ Hours
- PS Plus Availability
- Extra & Premium
