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The Elder Scrolls Online News

Following Microsoft's mass layoffs, former Elder Scrolls Online and Blackbird devs form worker-owned studio

Following Microsoft's mass layoffs earlier this year, a group of former ZeniMax developers have formed a worker-owned studio dubbed Sackbird. Made up of folks who worked on The Elder Scrolls Online and a cancelled MMO codenamed Blackbird, the studio have confirmed they're working on an unnamed original game that'll hit PC and consoles.


Zenimax's Blackbird project was one of numerous games cancelled as Microsoft laid of around 9,000 staff in July, with the ZeniMax Online Studios United union left fighting for the jobs of members affected. Bloomberg subsequently reported that Blackbird was a sci-fi noir-ish third-person shooter with looty bits and lots of vertical movement.


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ESO’s October 2025 Survival Guide


Bring down the Writhing Wall and celebrate Tamriel’s spooky season this October!

Daily Login Rewards (October 1-31)

Log in to Tamriel this month and you’ll unlock a series of useful in-game items, including nine Luminous Ink on Day 7, five Instant All Research scrolls on Day 14, eight Tempering Alloys on Day 21, and more!

 

TESOctober 2025 (October 1-31)

TESOctober returns for a month of celebrating and sharing the ESO community’s amazing fan creations. Keep an eye on social channels and the official website for prompts and where to participate.

 

Writhing Wall Developer Overview (October 1)

Get the inside scoop on the Battle for the Writhing Wall in-game event with a brief introductory livestream on Twitch.tv/Bethesda.

 

Capture the Relic Battlegrounds Weekend (October 9-14)

Earn bonus AP as you fight to capture and hold the relic in the classic Battlegrounds PvP game mode.

 

Battle for the Writhing Wall (October 13-TBD*)



Be a part of history as you join your fellow players in assaulting the Writhing Wall and unlocking Seasons of the Worm Cult Part 2! Take part in all three phases of the war to earn special collectibles and get access to Eastern Solstice—the war against the Worm Cult begins!  

Bring down the Writhing Wall, together!

Golden Pursuits—Battle for the Writhing Wall (October 13-November 26)

Earn even more amazing in-game collectibles and other rewards during the Battle for the Writhing Wall with a special Golden Pursuits campaign. Complete activities to unlock a new pet and mount.

 

Livestream for the Writhing Wall (October 13)

Join the ESO Community Team and special guests on Twitch.tv/Bethesda as they kick off the Battle for the Writhing Wall with a new livestream. Drops will be enabled, so make sure you link your accounts and stay tuned for more information close to October 13.

 

Witches Festival (October 23-November 5)

The spoopy season returns to Tamriel! Slay monsters to unlock bonus rewards including collectibles, Event Tickets, and more during the Witches Festival in-game event. Boo!

 

Seasons of the Worm Cult Part 2 & Update 48 PC/Mac Launch (October 27)

ESO’s final major update for 2025 arrives, introducing the Eastern Solstice region, the Seasons of the Worm Cult Part 2 story, and base-game additions and fixes. Don’t forget, you can access the new region and storyline only after the fall of the Writhing Wall—which might not happen until later in the year!

Explore a new part of Solstice

The true war for Solstice begins and the Seasons of the Worm Cult storyline nears its dread conclusion this October in The Elder Scrolls Online. Are you ready to do your part for the war effort? Great rewards await those willing to fight Tamriel’s most-feared necromantic cult. Share your October battle plans with us via Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter)Instagram, and Facebook.

Share Your Thoughts on ESO's Classes with Us


We want to collect your views on ESO’s myriad classes with a special player survey. 

As mentioned in the Update 48 preview livestream, we’ve seen your feedback and questions surrounding class and combat direction, and we want to learn more. To help inform our work, we’re interested in your opinion concerning ESO’s current selection of classes, including their visuals and animations, their current ability kit and playstyle, and pain points.

Share your thoughts via this player survey. Note that it will be live only until October 3, so don’t hesitate to fill it out ASAP.

This is just the first part of our work on ESO’s classes, and we’ll be sharing a long-term plan in the coming months. Do you play a Dragonknight with an unrelenting grip? Is your Warden an eternal guardian of the wilds? Let us know how you play your favorite ESO class via Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter)Instagram, and Facebook

Cyrodiil Cries Out Again for PvP Vengeance!


Return to the Vengeance PvP campaign to help test newly performant additions, including tweaks to siege weaponry, armor skill lines, and guild skill lines.

We’re continuing to add to the options in the Vengeance campaign for Cyrodiil, and we need your help to test our latest additions! Join in a newly updated Vengeance campaign during its return on all platforms from today until Monday, September 29 at 10 AM EDT, and help provide vital data and feedback for the Alliance War.

[h2]Vengeance Basics[/h2]
For those warriors unfamiliar with the Vengeance champaign, you can participate by following the below steps:
  1. Navigate to the Alliance War menu
    1. Either by pressing L on your keyboard or navigating directly via the UI
  2. Select the Campaigns tab
  3. Select Cyrodiil and then the Vengeance campaign

The Vengeance campaign is open to all players level 10-50 and introduces a special ruleset to the Alliance War, templatizing player builds to help improve game stability and performance.
  • All players have normalized stats regardless of level
  • Each Class has a modified set of abilities and items
  • While in Vengeance, you cannot access your bank, vendors, or crafting nodes
  • Only Experience Points, Alliance Points, gold, and Champion Points are retained upon leaving the campaign, and no items can be taken out
  • The Champion System is disabled in this campaign
  • All quests are disabled in this campaign

Upon entering the campaign, your character is changed to match a specific template for their class. As mentioned above, this includes pre-determined abilities, attributes, consumables, and item sets. It also includes a backpack of supplies that cannot be removed from the campaign.

Note that the templatizing of characters is an experiment and does not necessarily mean that these changes will be made to the Alliance War in the future. By introducing templatized characters for this specific test, we can isolate the variables that impact performance, helping us plan future improvements.

[h2]New Options for War[/h2]
For your battles in the Vengeance campaign, we’ve now enabled meatbag catapults, as well as performance-tailored skill lines for the Fighters Guild and Mages Guild, plus an armor skill line with active abilities for light, medium, and heavy armor.

Watch the skies!

As with other additions to Vengeance, these new options are tuned to minimize their disruption to the game’s performance while still providing satisfyingly devastating combat power. For example, meatbag catapults can still cause massive damage on impact with players, but no longer leave a lingering ground effect. Missed a kill the first time? Reload and fire again!

Additionally, certain progression and cosmetic systems have been brought to Vengeance to test their performance impact. Skyshards, mount selection (along with any collectibles normally allowed in Cyrodiil), titles, and achievements have been re-enabled. No need to leave Cyrodiil to swap to your favorite horse (or guar). Dazzle your fellows at a siege with your stylish choices—just don’t get distracted from the fight!

[h2]The Three Banners March On[/h2]
Are you excited to fling putrefied meat over a keep wall or wield the techniques of the Fighters and Mages Guilds? Perhaps you’re just pleased to see Vengeance return again with its massive battles? Whatever your thoughts, let us know via Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter)Instagram, and Facebook

Golden Pursuits—Descend Dungeons this September!


Unlock 50 Undaunted Keys and more when you brave Tamriel’s dungeons during a new Golden Pursuits campaign.
[h2]Dungeon Descent[/h2]
September’s new Golden Pursuits campaign, Dungeon Descent, is now live and runs until September 30. During this campaign, you can earn bonus rewards by completing various dungeons, slaying mighty bosses, and other activities. These rewards include:
  • Complete five activities—25,000 Gold
  • Complete 10 activities—500 Seals of Endeavor
  • Complete 15 activities—×50 Undaunted Keys

Complete activities to earn extra rewards

A total of 21 activities are available during this campaign period, ranging from clearing dungeons, defeating delve or public dungeon bosses, or completing Undaunted Pledges. To see the full list of activities, visit the Golden Pursuits section of the in-game Activity Finder.

In addition, the Undaunted Celebration in-game event will kick off on Thursday, September 18, and run until September 30, providing adventurers with even more exciting rewards for their dungeon delving. Check out this article to learn more.

[h2]Brave the Dark! [/h2]
Earn bonus gold, Seals of Endeavor, and Undaunted Keys when conquering perilous dungeons this September. Are you and your fellow adventurers prepared to explore the darkest corners of Tamriel and loot the spoils within? Let us know via Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter)Instagram, and Facebook