ESO dev "befuddled" that some still don't know the decade-old MMO is out

When you hear the word 'MMORPG' you probably think one of three things: World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy 14, or Old School RuneScape. Perhaps, if you're like me, your mind wanders to the likes of Guild Wars 2, or even something like Lost Ark or Black Desert Online. But for the vast majority, WoW, FF14, and OSRS are 'the big three.' It's weird, then, that Bethesda, the creator of some of gaming's most iconic franchises, has struggled in the MMO space - Fallout 76's much-maligned launch and slow rebirth have been studied and dissected a thousand times over, and despite its ties to The Elder Scrolls, ESO has at times seemed like something of an underdog. All of this has left a "chip" on Zenimax studio game director Rich Lambert's shoulder.

The Elder Scrolls Online has enjoyed a bit of a second wind recently, with Lambert and game director Nick Giacomini telling me at Gamescom about how the much-hyped Oblivion remaster replicated the effect that Amazon's Fallout TV show had on Fallout 76. Working in tandem with its new seasonal model, Zenimax's MMO feels like it's in its best ever state, yet it's still arguably dwarved by the likes of World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy 14. The question is why?

It's something that Lambert, formerly ESO's director, has pondered many times. "It's the biggest chip in my shoulder," he laughs. "It's something that's always kind of befuddled me; ESO has always been flying under the radar. It's either not taken seriously or dismissed or whatnot. But it's an amazing game, and it has an amazing community. Once you get to experience what the community and the game are like, you generally stick around for a while.

"How do you get more people to see that this great game has been around for more than ten years?" he muses. "I've been in countless interviews and at countless shows over the years where they're like 'oh, when does this come out?' It's been out for years!

"It's kind of mind-boggling to me [that we've] flown under the radar, and I think it's because we don't trumpet [ESO]. We're generally very behind the scenes, just working really hard, doing things right - we don't necessarily celebrate our successes as much as we maybe should. Some of that is going to change; our communication style is going to change going forward, and maybe that will help some of those things."

"Transparency is very much a goal," Giacomini continues. "The switch to the seasonal model has helped us facilitate that because we're doing things a bit more regularly. I'm hesitant to commit until things are firmed up more, but transparency is one of our primary aims.

"We listen to our players constantly. It's an extremely important part of our development process, and it very much informs our roadmaps and the decisions we make and so on, but we want to do more of that and take that more seriously because ESO is nothing without its players. We want to get better at showing players what's on our minds for further out rather than just a few months."

I've played many an MMO in my time, but ESO has consistently passed me by. That said, as someone who's also in her Falloblivion era, I'm very tempted to finally try it. With the Season of the Worm Cult in full swing, as well as the addition of the brand new scribing update and swimming mounts (the idea of horses doing a paddle never ceases to make me smile), perhaps now's the time to finally jump in. That's yet another MMO added to the library, so if you don't see me for a while, you know what's happened.

While we wait for any (please, give us anything) news on the Elder Scrolls 6 release date, check out our list of the best RPGs to keep you going. Or, if you're replaying Skyrim for the billionth time, we have a guide to all the best Skyrim mods to keep things fresh.

Have you ever played ESO? Or were you also wondering when it's finally coming out? Sound off on our Discord with your thoughts.