New Elder Scrolls Online Cinematic Teases An Adventure Across The Sea

The Elder Scrolls Online is primed to reveal its next year-long story, and it promises to take players of Zenimax Online's MMORPG across the sea to discover a never-before-seen world.

While the full reveal of what's next for Elder Scrolls Online isn't coming until January 27, Bethesda is already giving a glimpse at what players can expect. A cinematic teaser shows three ships making a dangerous voyage across stormy waters, all while a heavily-armored foe looks out from a castle rampart at the approaching vessels.

There's not much to go on other than that, but Zenimax says the new adventure will take players to a previously unseen world, complete with a new culture to explore and new stories to discover. Where that world is, exactly, is still unclear, but some Elder Scrolls fans are speculating it could be a voyage to Akavir, the continent across the sea to the east of Tamriel. If that is the case, it would be a major departure for the franchise. All previous games in the series have taken place in Tamriel, and while there is some lore surrounding Akavir and those who call it home, it's much more of a blank slate compared to lore-rich regions Skyrim or Morrowind.

Due to the sea-based nature of the teaser, players are also wondering if the new adventure will involve the Maormer, aka sea elves. Unfortunately, the armored character in the teaser doesn't look very elf-like. Combined with the fact that a recent community letter from Zenimax said the next adventure would concentrate "on a playable race that has not yet had a full cultural and historical deep dive," other fans are theorizing the adventure may involve islands typically associated with Redguards or Bretons. The letter also states that the game would be backing away from "end of the world invasion" plots to focus on more traditional Elder Scrolls stories of political intrigue and factional infighting, which should give players somewhat of a better idea on what to expect narratively speaking.

Sadly, fans will have to wait a few more weeks to learn more. Last year, Elder Scrolls Online saw the release of its year-long Gates of Oblivion storyline, which encompassed multiple new dungeons, DLCs, the introduction of a new companion system, and the Blackwood expansion. Elder Scrolls Online also recently received a PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S upgrade, which includes dynamic resolution scaling and a stable 60fps while playing in performance mode.