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There's a good chance that, like me, you never even knew that The Elder Scrolls: Blades still existed. There's also a good chance that, like me, you've never actually played it. Which might not necessarily be a bad thing, but it has largely faded into the background since its launch.
Released in 2020 for Android, iOS, and, somewhat surprisingly, Nintendo Switch, The Elder Scrolls: Blades was a free-to-play spin-off designed specifically for mobile devices. The game never really resonated with critics or players, however, and currently sits at a Metacritic score of 42 alongside a user score of 2.7.
The game itself is set to be "permanently shut down on June 30, 2026" (via Reddit). Between now and then, the developers have made everything in the in-game store available for one gem or one sigil, with all players receiving a free bundle of gems and sigils.
I recently covered other games shutting down for Xbox, and in that, I mentioned how important I believe the Stop Killing Games campaign is. The initiative aims to prevent publishers from releasing games only to later shut them down with no way for players to access them again.
It's an issue that continues to affect the industry. Looking at games like Concord and Highguard, even if a game isn't particularly well-received, it's still disappointing when access disappears entirely. There are always players who spent money on the game itself, purchased microtransactions, or simply enjoyed the experience and want to revisit it at some point.
It's hard for me to comment too much on Blades itself being taken down, simply because I've never actually played it. I don't really have any witty anecdotes or personal stories to share about my time with it, because there wasn't one.
Still, I'm generally a big fan of studios branching out and trying new things, even when they don't always land. I look at Halo as a good example. Microsoft released Halo: Spartan Assault and Halo: Spartan Strike for mobile, and while neither was groundbreaking, I thought they were pretty decent for what they were. However, Microsoft is arguably wasting Halo's potential right now.
On that note, it's a little disappointing that we never got more games in that style, especially since they offered something different from the mainline Halo experience. Those are just my thoughts, though.
Let me know what you think about The Elder Scrolls: Blades and its upcoming shutdown. Did you ever play it, or is this the first time you're hearing about it? Be sure to leave a comment and take part in our poll!
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