E3 2018: The Elder Scrolls Blades Won't Have An Open World At Launch, But Could Add One Later

One of the biggest surprises to come out of Bethesda's E3 2018 press conference was The Elder Scrolls Blades, a brand-new mobile installment in the RPG series. Bethesda describes the title as a "pure Elder Scrolls game" with "console-quality graphics," but one notable difference between it and recent entries like Skyrim is that Blades doesn't have an open world.

We got a chance to speak with Bethesda's Todd Howard at E3, who talked a bit more about the upcoming mobile RPG. He confirmed that Blades was in part inspired by Elder Scrolls Arena--the earliest installment in the series--and builds upon that style of gameplay.

"We go back to Arena, which is really an awesome but glorified dungeon hack," Howard told us. "We like the old Eye of the Beholders and all of that stuff, where I wanna go through a dungeon experience, and I still find that very interesting. We do it a lot. So Blades started there. And then you have full quests and a storyline and a hub. When you get those quests from the town, you either get a handcrafted dungeon or it will generate one. And then you play through that dungeon. And some of those dungeons are big outdoor areas."

While it may not have an open world at release, Howard notes that some of the areas in Blades are still "very large." He also says Bethesda may introduce an open-world to the game down the line depending on how players interact with the game.

"We could do it," Howard said when asked if an open-world would be added to Blades. "We'll see how people interact with it. Because it's mobile, we know people may play ... We need you to get something meaningful done in 10 or 15 minutes. Do you know what I mean? Even though you could sit down and play it for as many hours as you want."

The Elder Scrolls Blades is coming to Android and iOS later this fall, and it'll be free to download. Pre-orders on both platforms are already available, and players can pre-register for early access to Blades via Bethesda's website. Bethesda has also said the game will come to PC and consoles in the future, although it hasn't revealed a release window for those versions.