In late 2024, ZeniMax Online Studios announced a shift in the release cadence of new content for The Elder Scrolls Online. Where previously, the game had been getting annual expansions with sweeping plots, new explorable lands, new character classes, and more, it was confirmed the game would shift to seasonal cycles.
“Over the course of 2025 we will be moving more towards a seasonal content model and away from launching massive content updates once a year,” Matt Firor, game director, announced. “In 2025 expect to see named seasons of three or six months duration with a mix of themed story content, events, store items, dungeons and more.”
At the time, more details were promised in future – and now, in the Elder Scrolls Online Direct, they’ve arrived. After months of waiting, we finally know what the future of TESO looks like, and what to expect in the coming months.
Here’s everything announced during the Elder Scrolls Online Direct of April 2025.
Table of Contents
Visual and performance upgrades are coming to The Elder Scrolls Online
One of the first changes announced during the Elder Scrolls Online Direct was about the visuals and performance of the game. As many will know, this MMORPG is now more than a decade old. Since its initial release, it has grown significantly, with a range of enhancements made along the way. In future, new upgrades are planned for multiple aspects of the game.
First, the team will work to improve performance with Cyrodiil Champions, the game’s large-scale PvP combat experiment. ZeniMax admits there’s problems with the experience right now, but it’s working to fix these for the future.
Read: The Elder Scrolls Online has made USD $2 billion since launch
Beyond this, the team is also working on visual upgrades. For now, these efforts are focussed on the Starting Zones for players, with these set to get a shiny overhaul improving textures, contrast, and detail. Early visuals reveal new foliage in areas, as well as more definition in structures, and overall, better realism. These changes will be introduced to the game in the near future.
The base game story is getting a sequel
In a neat surprise, the Elder Scrolls Online Direct revealed the base game story is getting a sequel, focussing on the continued threat of Molag Bal, and the approach of Coldharbour. This plot will define the upcoming season of TESO, which is known as Seasons of the Worm Cult (kicking off 2 June on PC/Mac and 18 June for consoles).
As teased in a new trailer, this story revolves around The Order of the Black Worm, which seeks to terraform Nirn and infect/transform the land with darkness. In this plot, you’ll travel to the island of Solstice, recruit new and returning allies (including Razum-dar, Skordo the Knife, and more), and fight back against evil.
This plot will introduce new story events and dungeons, as well as a 12-person trial called Ossein Cage. When tackling this trial, players will work together to destroy a Daedric relic that absorbs pain, and defeat a host of creepy, crawly monsters.
As announced, the Seasons of the Worm Cult kicks off in June 2025. A prologue quest is available now.
Subclassing is coming to the base game
For those keen for a new way to play, there’s good news. The Elder Scrolls Online will get subclassing in June – a “brand new way to help players build their fantasy.” In practical terms, this new system will let you pick and choose from a range of class skill lines, mixing and matching as you like, to create your perfect character.
You’ll be able to utilise skill lines from a variety of other classes (as long as you have access to them) without having to re-roll your character. As noted by the ZeniMax team, this process will be easier if you have multiple characters, but a formal way to unlock all class skills hasn’t been detailed just yet – so if you’re keen, stay tuned for more information.
A new in-game community event kicks off in Summer 2025 [NH]
The final big reveal for the Elder Scrolls Online Direct was for a new community event set to arrive in Summer 2025 [Northern Hemisphere]. This will be a server-wide battle that sees players teaming up to destroy a giant wall cutting off the eastern part of Solstice. Players must work together to destroy this force, and the monsters that roam the land, with success only being earned after multiple phases of the plot are unlocked.
The goal will be to work together, on your home server, to defeat threats as they arrive. It’s not strictly a competition, but the ZeniMax team did openly ponder which server would be the first to defeat the Worm Cult, and save the day.
Beyond these big reveals, the ZeniMax team did also briefly mention there will be “remix seasons” arriving in the game soon, with these revisiting ideas and challenges from past seasons – but we’ll likely hear much more about this in future.
For now, there’s plenty to keep TESO players engaged, with the first of these new goodies starting to arrive from June. Stay tuned for more.
