‘I Don’t Think It’s Much of a Stretch for the Game to Go 30 Years’ — The Elder Scrolls Online Developers Promise Big Changes Following Internal Shakeup

The Elder Scrolls Online has been going for 11 years now, which is a huge achievement for any video game. But the developers at ZeniMax Online Studios have an ambition for it to last for at least another 20 years, and are openly talking about ESO being a 30+ year game. Can they manage it? After a recent shakeup at the Microsoft owned studio — and big layoffs that hit Bethesda hard — players are wondering what the future holds for their beloved game.

It was with all this in mind that I sat down to chat with Nick Giacomini, who has taken over the ESO game director role from Rich Lambert, and Lambert himself, who is now studio-wide director, to discuss the past, present, and future of The Elder Scrolls Online. Rich is a true Elder Scrolls veteran, having joined Bethesda Game Studios in 2004 to work on Oblivion. He’s been working on ESO for an eye-watering 18 years, when you factor in the start of development. In fact, he was the second employee brought on the team after Matt Firor, the prior boss of ZeniMax Online Studios who stepped down amid the cancellation of the studio’s unannounced MMO.

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