ZeniMax Online Studios announced that The Elder Scrolls Online will integrate several paid DLCs into the base game for free starting in March 2026, as part of a shift to a new seasonal content model. This change aims to deliver more varied updates without annual paid chapters. The roadmap includes battle passes, class reworks, and experimental zones throughout the year.
The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) is undergoing a significant transformation in 2026, moving away from its traditional yearly paid chapter releases to a seasonal model with all future content updates provided free of charge. Developer ZeniMax Online Studios revealed these plans during a recent roadmap livestream and press Q&A, emphasizing flexibility to address player feedback and innovate more quickly.
The shift begins with Update 49 in March 2026, which will incorporate the previously paid Dark Brotherhood, Thieves Guild, Imperial City, and Orsinium DLCs into the base game. These expansions, originally released between 2015 and 2016 and costing between 2,000 and 3,000 Crowns each (roughly $15-$25), added key features like assassin skill lines, orc homelands, and daedric battles against Molag Bal. Later in the year, around winter, the 2020 Greymoor chapter—introducing western Skyrim and a vampire lord storyline—will also become free.
ESO's 2025 served as a transitional year with an experimental season, Seasons of the Worm Cult, paving the way for four three-month seasons in 2026. Season 0 launches in April, featuring a Dragonknight class rework, two-handed weapon updates, and the challenging Night Market experimental PvE zone with faction-based rewards, including an upgradable house. Subsequent seasons will bring Thieves Guild content and Sheogorath stories in late summer (Season 1), plus solo dungeons and naval combat in High Seas events for winter (Season 2, with Sorcerer updates).
Accompanying these are the Tamriel Tomes battle pass system, replacing daily challenges with weekly and seasonal ones for cosmetics and currencies, available in free and premium tiers ($15 or $30). The Gold Coast Bazaar will offer rotating cosmetics via earned Trade Bars. Game director Nick Giacomini noted the chapter model had become "too formulaic," stating, "It's something players have been asking us to do for a really long time—to pause and work on addressing pain points."
Executive producer Susan Kath added, "In general, the things that were rolled out as chapters, those will just be game updates from now on." Quality-of-life improvements include account-wide outfits, free skill respeccing, and faster riding training. Cross-play is in development but may take time, as Kath explained: "It is a complex problem for a game like ESO—it was not ever built with this in mind."
ZeniMax aims for variety across seasons, with Giacomini emphasizing, "The key difference is variety and choice." This roadmap positions ESO, now nearly 12 years old, for long-term evolution toward a "30-year MMO."
