Bethesda has announced that their upcoming mobile game The Elder Scrolls: Blades will not release until “Early 2019”. The previously stated release window was Autumn 2018. Blades is a new installation in The Elder Scrolls series made for mobile devices and is planned to eventually release on PC, consoles, and even VR headsets.
The game was first announced at E3 2018. On stage, Bethesda’s director & executive producer Todd Howard stated that the game would be available for all levels of VR, from mobile VR to high end PC VR.
The announcement today only mentions that iOS and Android are coming in early 2019. While this could technically also include Android based VR platforms like Oculus Go and Google Daydream, it seems unlikely. The more likely situation here is that the VR version will come later in 2019 (at the earliest) as a lower priority.
It’s not clear what has caused the delay for Blades. In an interview with Geoff Keighley at the time of the announcement, Todd Howard said that his ideal scenario was to release it right after E3. Perhaps the recent issues and controversy with Fallout 76 have caused the company to reprioritize their developers, although it could be unrelated.
We also still don’t know exactly which VR platforms the game will land on. With Oculus Quest releasing in 2019 too however, Blades could be that headset’s biggest hit, or greatest missed opportunity. We’ll keep you updated on any further news about Blades from Bethesda.
