During its E3 conference last night, Bethesda Game Studios revealed that a new game in the Elder Scrolls series is coming to iOS and Android devices this fall, called The Elder Scrolls: Blades [Direct Link] (via TouchArcade). Bethesda describes Blades as a free-to-play title, but the developer didn't give any further details about potential in-app purchases.

elder scrolls ios
In terms of story, players will take on the role of a member of the ancient order of the Blades, tasked with rebuilding and restoring their ramshackle hometown to its former glory after being exiled from the order. Bethesda says the mobile game "contains the many hallmarks" of the series that fans know of:

...beautifully rendered, console-quality environments, powerful magic, tons of gear to collect, upgradeable skills and of course, real-time fantasy battles!

Like other Elder Scrolls games, Blades is first person and fights are controlled by using the touchscreen to slash your sword, deflect, cast spells, and more. A fighting Arena features one-on-one combat with other players in real time, and an infinite, roguelike Abyss mode hides treasures in a never-ending dungeon.

The single-player campaign takes players through the town rebuilding process, where they will be able to customize the city to their liking as it expands and even visit their friends' towns. In every mode, Blades supports both two-handed landscape and a one-handed portrait setup, and to switch between each all you have to do is rotate the iPhone or iPad.

During the company's press conference, Bethesda Games Studios director Todd Howard showed a video of the game running on an iPhone X.


Those interested have until June 15 to pre-register for a chance to be part of the game's early access program. Otherwise, Bethesda says that The Elder Scrolls: Blades will launch to the public sometime later this year. Although it's launching first on smartphones and tablets, Howard says that Blades will eventually be available on PC and console.

On the iOS App Store, Apple has featured The Elder Scrolls: Blades today in a sneak peek article, where users can also pre-order the game [Direct Link] with an expected release date of September 1, 2018. A few other iOS gaming announcements have been made at E3 this year, one including a mash-up of the Gears of War franchise and Funko Pop toys called Gears Pop.

Top Rated Comments

Kobayagi Avatar
93 months ago
Free to play, the words of doom for serious gaming.

It’s so exciting to see Civilization V (full retail price) and PUBG (even though it is also free to play, the genre of battle royals leaves no room to monetise in progress, only on cosmetic items to make your character “cooler”), only to have you’re hope of iOS as a serious gaming platform shattered by news like that.
How can iOS ever be a 'serious gaming' platform? Yeah, iPhones and iPads are really capable devices, but they just can't cut it compared to consoles and especially pc's when we look at graphics performances. Ignoring this fact, for 'serious gaming', you want to play on a tv or a big monitor and want to control the game with a controller, preferably with a mouse and keyboard, depending on the game type.

What Apple is offering with the AppleTV is just a bad attempt at what Nintendo was doing with the Wii: games for kids which is not the 'serious gaming' I think we are talking about.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tipoo Avatar
93 months ago
From what I’ve seen so far this is by far the most graphics intensive game to ever release on iOS. I haven’t seen something look this good since Infinity Blade 1 back in 2010. Hopefully gameplay isn’t ruined with excessive micro-transactions. If done right the game is not pay-to-win and those who love paying for skins and special weapons will be able to do so.
Try Shadowgun Legends, that looks up there too.

I wish for something like that with an actual AAA story, no microtransactions, and MFI game controller support. I'd love a Switch-Lite experience like that.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacFan23 Avatar
93 months ago
How can iOS ever be a 'serious gaming' platform? Yeah, iPhones and iPads are really capable devices, but they just can't cut it compared to consoles and especially pc's when we look at graphics performances. Ignoring this fact, for 'serious gaming', you want to play on a tv or a big monitor and want to control the game with a controller, preferably with a mouse and keyboard, depending on the game type.

What Apple is offering with the AppleTV is just a bad attempt at what Nintendo was doing with the Wii: games for kids which is not the 'serious gaming' I think we are talking about.
MFi controllers have been a thing for a while now.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tipoo Avatar
93 months ago
That would be awesome. Especially considering Apple has moved away from focusing on creative professionals in favor of becoming a lifestyle company. They don't even need to use to the sort of hardware that the Xbox One X is using. The Switch has already demonstrated what can be done and even the PS Vita before that which utilized a quad core (SGX543MP4+) implementation of the SGX543MP2 in the iPhone 4s. The iPad 3 used the MP4 but since it was driving twice the amount of pixels, I found that gaming performance on the 4s and iPad 2 was actually superior albeit at lower resolutions.
Yeah, and the A10X especially with active cooling in the ATV is easily head and shoulders above the Switch.

If they keep updating that to the new *X part every year, it would even sneak up on the base XBO scarily fast (though probably right in time for the generation after).
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
strategicthinke Avatar
93 months ago
Free to play, the words of doom for serious gaming.

It’s so exciting to see Civilization V (full retail price) and PUBG (even though it is also free to play, the genre of battle royals leaves no room to monetise in progress, only on cosmetic items to make your character “cooler”), only to have your hope of iOS as a serious gaming platform shattered by news like that.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tipoo Avatar
93 months ago
So do I. It pains me to see the potential of these ARM SoC’s going to waste with the freemium model. Devices with the A10 and newer are strong enough to rival console graphics. Right now the best games on iOS are paid platformers like Oddmar, Super MARIO Run and old classics like Rockstar’s PS2 titles: Max Payne, all the GTAs and the excellent KOTOR port. The sports games are ok but they never require as much horsepower similar to fighting games.

It would be amazing to see what developers like Naughty Dog could do if they set out to make a AAA iOS title. People are willing to pay for quality. We might see things get better once the Mac App Store has iOS stuff. Since games will have to be made with Metal we might see something special if people are willing to pay for these superior experiences.
Well Naughty Dog is fully funded by Sony so that would be amazing but unlikely. But I think Apple should start funding their own game developments, get a few indie studios at least to really push the hardware.

The Apple TV in particular could be a nifty microconsole with an actively cooled A10X and controller support, and they dropped the wand controller requirement a while ago.

They just need to fund those games, maybe even have an in-house project. Or more partnerships with Nintendo, but for high end exclusives (or shared with Switch) this time, if Nintendo is willing to do that.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

ios 19 messages app

Apple Sues Jon Prosser Over iOS 26 Leaks

Thursday July 17, 2025 8:40 pm PDT by
Earlier this year, YouTuber Jon Prosser shared multiple videos showing off what he claimed to be re-created renderings of what was then presumed to be called iOS 19 and which was eventually unveiled by Apple as iOS 26 at WWDC in June. In his first video back in January, Prosser showed off a Camera app redesign with a simpler set of buttons for moving between photo and video modes, and he...
iPhone 17 Colors

All 15 New iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro Colors Revealed in Latest Leak

Wednesday July 16, 2025 6:50 am PDT by
We may finally have a definitive list of all color options for the iPhone 17 series, ahead of the devices launching in September. MacRumors concept In a report for Macworld today, Filipe Espósito said he obtained an "internal document" that allegedly reveals all of the color options for the upcoming iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max models. The report includes ...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Here's When to Expect the iOS 26 Public Beta

Tuesday July 15, 2025 11:07 am PDT by
Apple previously announced that a public beta of iOS 26 would be available in July, and now a more specific timeframe has surfaced. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said that Apple's public betas should be released on or around Wednesday, July 23. In other words, expect the public betas of iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, and more to be available at some point next week. Apple will be releasing...
iPhone 17 Pro Dark Blue and Orange

Ranked: The Best Features Rumored for the iPhone 17 Lineup

Wednesday July 16, 2025 4:17 pm PDT by
We have just under two months to go until the debut of Apple's iPhone 17 models, and rumors have been ramping up in recent weeks. We went through everything we know so far, pulling out the most exciting rumors and highlighting some other changes that aren't going to be so great. Top Tier Ultra Thin iPhone 17 Air - The iPhone 17 Air is 2025's most exciting iPhone rumor, because it's the...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Foldable iPhone's Thickness and Price Range Detailed in New Reports

Wednesday July 16, 2025 11:31 am PDT by
Apple's long-rumored foldable iPhone will likely have a starting price between $1,800 and $2,000 in the U.S., analysts at investment banking firm UBS said this week. If so, the foldable iPhone would cost more than a MacBook Pro, which starts at $1,599. With a starting price of at least $1,800, the foldable iPhone would be the most expensive iPhone model ever released, topping the Pro Max at...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 16 New Features

Friday July 11, 2025 12:40 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are only two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:A redesigned Dynamic Island: It has been rumored that all iPhone 17 models will have a redesigned Dynamic Island interface — it might ...
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Complications

Apple Watch Ultra 3: What to Expect

Sunday July 13, 2025 10:30 am PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 is nearly over, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the Apple Watch Ultra 3:Satellite connectivity for sending and receiving text messages when Wi-Fi and cellular coverage is unavailable 5G support, up from LTE on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Likely a wide-angle OLED display that ...
iPhone 17 Pro on Desk Centered 1

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Two Months With These 16 New Features

Thursday July 17, 2025 8:33 am PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are less than two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models.Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro ...