The Elder Scrolls - the best role-playing game!

Development history of The Elder Scrolls series

The Elder Scrolls: Arena was released in 1994 for DOS PC systems. The game was intended for players to assume the role of an arena combatant, but development shifted the game into a role-playing game (RPG).

The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall was published in 1996. Fueled by the modest success of The Elder Scrolls: Arena, The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall was even more ambitious than its predecessor. The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall featured one of the first true 3D worlds on a large scale, a game world claimed to be twice the size of Great Britain.

Following the release of The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, Bethesda Softworks ceased development of the numbered title of the series until 2002 to develop in the interim An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire and The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard, which were released in 1997 and 1998, respectively. Both games had a smaller focus than the numbered series titles: An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire limited itself to dungeon-romping and The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard was a linear third-person action-adventure game.

The release of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind in 2002 saw a return to the old-style expansive and non-linear gameplay, and a shift towards individually-detailed landscapes and items, with a smaller game-world than past titles. It was developed simultaneously for PC and Microsoft's Xbox console. The game achieved commercial success, and sold over four million units by mid-2005. Two expansions were released between late 2002 and early 2003: The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal and The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon.

Development of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion began in 2002, and focused on artificial intelligence improvements that interact dynamically with the game-world, proprietary "radiant AI" (a way to randomize aspects of the game so that it would not be the same experience in another playthrough), implementation of Havok (physics) engine, and improved graphics. The game was released on PC and Xbox 360 in early 2006, and for PlayStation 3 in early 2007. Bethesda Softworks released one content collection and expansion pack in late 2006 and early 2007: The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine and The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles, respectively.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was announced on December 11, 2010, at the Spike Video Game Awards 2010. The game is not a direct sequel to its predecessor, Oblivion, but instead takes place 200 years later, in the land called Skyrim, in Tamriel. Skyrim also makes use of an updated graphics engine.It was released on November 11, 2011 to critical acclaim. Skyrim received Spike's Game of the Year award and IGN's Xbox 360 and PC Game of the Year Awards for 2011.

On May 3, 2012, The Elder Scrolls Online was revealed to be released for PC and Mac in 2013.

The Elder Scrolls Online[www.elderscrollsonline.com]
The Elder Scrolls - Wikipedia[en.wikipedia.org]