Free-to-play RPG The Elder Scrolls: Blades is shutting down. Bethesda made the announcement through a message in the game, where it also gave players a bundle of Gems and Sigils. The servers for The Elder Scrolls: Blades will go offline on June 30th, 2026, and in the meantime, players can buy items in the in-game store for 1 Gem or 1 Sigil each.
“All players receive a free bundle of Gems and Sigils, so you can enjoy all content Blades has to offer,” reads the in-game message. “Thank you for playing, and we hope you have enjoyed your time in Blades.”
The Elder Scrolls: Blades was released in May 2020 on Android, iOS and Nintendo Switch. While free-to-play on the mobile platforms, the game had a $14.99 price tag on the Switch. It is worth noting that, in light of this announcement, The Elder Scrolls: Blades has been delisted from all platform stores.
In the same Reddit thread announcing the end of service, many commenters discussed its various issues, with most comments criticizing Bethesda’s monetization practices. “I never got into the game because of the monetization but it is a shame it will be unplayable,” wrote one. “I played it and it’s not terrible for a mobile game, but you pretty quickly hit a wall where you are stuck waiting for days long upgrades and the second it was like ‘real money will make this faster’ I stopped,” wrote another.
The Elder Scrolls: Blades was originally announced all the way back in 2018, where Bethesda described its various gameplay aspects, like combat, questing, dungeons, and a customizable town. The company had also mentioned that it would be a multiplayer experience, where players could invite friends to their towns. While the title is now shutting down, initial ambitions were larger, with the company having plans to bring it to PC, PS4, Xbox One, and even VR headsets.
The story of The Elder Scrolls: Blades is set between the events of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. The title offered three main game modes: Abyss, Arena, and Town. Abyss revolved around players taking on an endless dungeon to see how far they could get. Arena, on the other hand, focused on PvP combat. And finally, the Town is where most of the in-game story is found, with players taking on quests and interacting with various characters.
In our 3 out of 10 review, we noted that the drawbacks of The Elder Scrolls: Blades largely stemmed from the fact that it was never meant to be a full-fledged new entry in the franchise. Despite this, however, we praised the Arena mode and the process of rebuilding the town. However, the negatives far outnumbered the positives, with issues ranging from combat lacking any real depth and dungeons being small and linear, to its grindy nature felt designed to force real-world money spending.
