Just ahead of the new year, ZeniMax Online Studios worried the Elder Scrolls Online playerbase with the announcement that the studio would go into the MMORPG’s 11th year with a brand-new cadence – one that wouldn’t include annual chapters. Now, thanks to this afternoon’s 2025 ESO Direct, we (and the game’s 26M other players) are finally getting a clearer picture of what what new cadence will entail.

“It’s time to shake things up in ESO,” ZOS president Matt Firor said on the stream. The studio wants to “change the way [ZOS] deliver[s] content” so that the game is still going hard years into the future. So here’s everything you need to know about the reveals today as well as more details from the Q&A sessions with press and influencers held earlier this week.

The new cadence

First, the devs say that while the old annual chapter system offered a “specific rhythm that you could count on,” they want more freedom to introduce variety to the game – i.e., with more time delivering new content and gameplay systems for the basegame, experimenting with new and different types of content, tackling core problems like combat and the UI, and addressing “longstanding player feedback.” Basically, they want to build more time into the development process to take on some of the content and fundamental changes that are essential to the game’s health but may not market or organize well into the chapter format.

That means the new content will be organized into seasons of varying length without a chapter; some may even be as short as three or six months.

Notably, the devs reject the idea that the new cadence represents a “content slowdown.” Game director Rich Lambert said that we’ll be getting about the same amount of content as we used to get with chapters/DLC, just split into pieces. And some of the content (which we’ll get to shortly) is bigger than anything the game’s ever done before – and that’s without touching on the content the devs wouldn’t reveal yet.

Firor does caution players that it’s possible there may come a year when the devs don’t add a new zone as we’re used to, but if so, that’d just mean the devs are adding a bunch of other systems or content instead. Essentially, they just want to tell stories that aren’t necessarily chapter-sized.

The new business model

ZOS says that 2025 is a “transition” year for the new seasons and the new business model, which is basically a $49.99 annual pass (called a “content pass” because it doesn’t necessarily line up with seasons) that gives players access to all of the new content released over the entire year. That content will include patches, story, systems, dungeons, and so forth, but not in a predictable pattern. It’s kinda like you’re paying for the three DLC and the chapter in one go, only the chapter is split up a bit. Future years will probably feel less like a split-up chapter (again, transition year).

The 2025 content pass will be available for purchase immediately following the Direct event today. Note that the content pass is not baked into the MMO’s optional subscription (ESO Plus), but the devs are planning to flesh out the sub with more perks, though they dodged hard examples of what that will entail. It does sound as if ESO Plus will at least cover the new dungeons being added, which would’ve been the bulk of the new DLC, minus the chapters, which haven’t been included anyway. But in our estimation, the devs are going to have to add something for folks who run a sub and the pass as they’re effectively paying for the dungeons twice.

“You’re still getting access to the things that traditionally you got access to as part of ESO Plus,” executive producer Susan Kath said in a second Q&A (we assume for EU press). “It is just a way to group the content over the entire year into one package that you can prepurchase, so you have access to it all the moment we release it.” Stay tuned for more details on this because right now we just don’t know much.

Notably, the Fallen Banners DLC, which when it launched last month was available to subbers but not for individual purchase, will land on the crown store for purchase this evening. (We assume the studio is hoping players will just buy the 2025 content pass instead, which also includes the DLC dungeons, and now ZOS won’t have to process a whole bunch of refunds or amortization.)

The new content

The first season is called Seasons of the Worm Cult. ZOS considers it a sequel to the basegame storyline as Molag Bal’s Worm Cult returns as the Big Bad. In the first release – coming in June – players will head to the tropical island of Solstice and its capital of Sunport (yes, those leaks about the new zone were true) and aid the Argonian and High Elf outcasts who live on the island as they fight back against the Worm Cult, which of course has also set up shop on the island. Expect a whole range of fan-favorite NPCs returning, including Prince Azah, Razum-Dar, and Skordo.

Solstice isn't all fun in the sun.