When a game sells 20 million copies, it’s safe to say it was a success. And 20 million copies is precisely what Bethesda has achieved with Skyrim.
This figure makes it the most successful RPG ever developed (with the exception of a couple of Pokemon games), and a clear, resounding financial success for Bethesda.
Which makes the upcoming Elder Scrolls Online all the more confusing. While I’m sure that ESO is a fine game indeed (and certainly has some spectacular voice actors behind it, so the production values are going to be astounding, one suspects), people don’t play Elder Scrolls games to be spammed by people yelling “LOL, 1K FLAMING SWORD FOR SALE.” That breaks the game’s immersion, and people play Elder Scrolls games to be immersed.
Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim. These five games, taken together, represent for many the very pinnacle of the RPG franchise. I’ve got a friend that got the collector’s box set which includes all five games and their expansions for Christmas, and he’s actually playing them through in order. Because the franchise has been around for so long and has had so much lore developed for it over the years, it now feels like a genuine, believable fantasy world, and I do hope that Bethesda has plans for new “genuine” Elder Scrolls games once the experiment with Online is over with.
– Matt S.
Editor-in-Chief
Find me on Twitter: @digitallydownld