Elder Scrolls Online Is Free To Play On PS4, Xbox One, PC All Week

Elder Scrolls Online is going free all week on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, publisher Bethesda has announced. The full base game is playable without charge from 7 AM PT / 10 AM ET / 3PM BST on April 11 all the way through April 18.

In addition to the full Tamriel Unlimited game, players will receive 500 free Crowns, the in-game currency that can be spent on cosmetic upgrades, new pets, and more.

The game will also be "discounted" until April 18, after which it will go back to full price. It's unclear at this stage what the sale price will be, but Tamriel Unlimited (the base game) usually retails for US $30 / £20, while Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Edition (which includes the base game as well as the Imperial City, Orsinium, Thieves Guild, and Dark Brotherhood DLC packs) sells for US $60 / £40. Neither version requires a subscription to play.

Elder Scrolls Online will expand soon with the launch of the Morrowind add-on in June. The first gameplay footage of that was released recently--take a look here. It was also reported in February that Elder Scrolls Online has sold 8.5 million copies, up from 7 million in June last year.

We enjoyed Bethesda's MMO to an extent here at GameSpot, though it has its problems. "Hopefully, The Elder Scrolls Online will one day get out of its own way, and stop trying to stifle the very fun it's trying to provide," said critic Kevin VanOrd. Read more in our full Elder Scrolls Online review.