Bethesda decided to permanently close the servers of the collectible card game The Elder Scrolls: Legends. Five years after the release of the last major update, the project will cease to exist on January 30, 2025.
The Elder Scrolls: Legends launched in 2017 and gained attention as a more challenging alternative to Hearthstone. Although the launch was quite successful, users did not stay in the game for long, which is why the online experience plummeted. Numerous improvements and major content updates could not correct the situation, and in 2019, support for the project was suspended. Then the developers canceled the planned winter addition, but the project remained available to those interested.
Now, according to an in-game message, all store items and access to events will cost one gold coin until the closing date so that users can enjoy the content one last time. After January 30, the servers will be disabled and access to the game will no longer be possible.
Many players are disappointed with this decision, especially those who invested real money to purchase in-game items. The president of developer Sparkypants Studios, Jason Coleman, noted that the studio has been supporting the game in a minimal mode for the past few years and regrets its closure, but does not have all the information about the reasons.
The issue of disabling online games is becoming increasingly relevant. Recent cases such as the closure of Ubisoft’s The Crew have even led to the creation of the Stop Killing Games campaign. This year, the state of California passed a law requiring sellers to indicate that digital games may be lost when servers go down. Steam also added a disclaimer that buyers only receive a license to use the game, not ownership.
