EB Games Australia is Pulling The Elder Scrolls Online From Store Shelves

[Steven Bogos]

EB Games Australia is Pulling The Elder Scrolls Online From Store Shelves

More fuel to the "free-to-play" rumors circling The Elder Scrolls Online.

Well this is interesting. Less than a week after Bethesda announced it was axing six-month subscription options [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/139272-Elder-Scrolls-Online-May-Be-Going-Free-to-Play] for The Elder Scrolls Online, major Australian video game retailer EB Games is reportedly pulling all copies of the game, including pre-paid game-time cards, from its shelves.

Kotaku AU [http://www.kotaku.com.au/2015/01/eb-games-is-removing-all-copies-of-elder-scrolls-online-from-stores/] has learned that a directive has been sent to all EB stores in the country, instructing staff to pack up any unsold copies of the game and send them back to Bethesda. A source at EB confirmed that all traces of the game would be completely gone from stores by January 13.

Officially, EB claims that the removal order is part of ordinary stock recall procedures, where excess stock of even popular, recently released titles such as Destiny and The Evil Within are recalled and sent back to their respective publishers. However, the EB source Kotaku spoke with claims that while ordinary stock recall only deals with excess stock, this particular recall specifically instructs store managers to remove all stock of The Elder Scrolls Online.

So what does this mean, exactly? Well, as we stated in the six-month subscription removal article [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/139272-Elder-Scrolls-Online-May-Be-Going-Free-to-Play], the most likely (and to fans, most pleasing) situation would be that the game is preparing to go free-to-play. Naturally, EB Games realizes that as soon as Bethesda flips the switch and turns the game free-to-play, any unsold boxes will essentially become worthless, which would explain why its trying to get rid of all its stock.

Another, more drastic possibility is that Bethesda is preparing to shut the game down for good.

Of course, there's always the third possibility that we're just reading too much into this and the game will continue business as usual. We've reached out to Bethesda for a comment.

Source: Kotaku AU [http://www.kotaku.com.au/2015/01/eb-games-is-removing-all-copies-of-elder-scrolls-online-from-stores/]

Permalink

 

[RandV80]

Couldn't the game still require an up front purchase and just drop the subscription model?

 

[Elfgore]

It's funny you mention useless boxes being sold. My former place of employment has two TOR disks and even a Legend of Conan disks for sale. One guy tried to buy one and I just nudged him saying it was free online.

Anyway, I don't know what's happening here. Probably not a good sign for ESO.

 

[CrazyBlaze]

When Target pulled GTA V from its shelves it was only a matter of time before things like this started happening. It was only a matter of time before other companies slowly started to remove their games. Slowly all the games will disappear from shelves and gaming itself will be banned in Australia. It will become a lawless land once again where roving bands of petitioners take up the megaphone against each other. Papers and pens shall be their shields and swords and the losers shall be buried other thousands of complaints well the winners walk off with a cheap since of fake moral superiority.

 

[Maxtro]

Wait, since when could you buy PC games at EB Games/Gamestop?

There isn't a Gamestop within 100 miles of me that sell a boxed copy of The Elder Scrolls Online.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

When Target pulled GTA V from its shelves it was only a matter of time before things like this started happening. It was only a matter of time before other companies slowly started to remove their games. Slowly all the games will disappear from shelves and gaming itself will be banned in Australia. It will become a lawless land once again where roving bands of petitioners take up the megaphone against each other. Papers and pens shall be their shields and swords and the losers shall be buried other thousands of complaints well the winners walk off with a cheap since of fake moral superiority.

Unsure if satire or didn't read the article?

 

[Steven Bogos]

When Target pulled GTA V from its shelves it was only a matter of time before things like this started happening. It was only a matter of time before other companies slowly started to remove their games. Slowly all the games will disappear from shelves and gaming itself will be banned in Australia. It will become a lawless land once again where roving bands of petitioners take up the megaphone against each other. Papers and pens shall be their shields and swords and the losers shall be buried other thousands of complaints well the winners walk off with a cheap since of fake moral superiority.

http://www.npr.org/2014/04/01/297690717/why-doesnt-america-read-anymore?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=npr&utm_campaign=nprnews&utm_content=04012014

An article just for you bro

 

[martyrdrebel27]

Wait, since when could you buy PC games at EB Games/Gamestop?

There isn't a Gamestop within 100 miles of me that sell a boxed copy of The Elder Scrolls Online.

every gamestop i've ever been to in a dozen states had a (generally small) PC rack.

OT: i'm really hoping that this is only a step towards free-to-play and not the death of the game entirely. as someone said above, i still think that an initial $60 purchase with free access is the way to go. sprinkle in some WELL DONE microtransactions, and you've got a viable economic plan.

Think about it, instead of a $0 price tag, which means that the game has to be built around exploitative, anti-consumerist micro-transactions, you could charge that $60 (which is about equal to 4 months play time) and cater to every crowd. some people who buy it will play it and will eventually get bored when something else comes out. the odds are that this will likely happen close enough to the 4 month mark as to make their usage not cost too much more than you would have gotten from a subscription.

then you'll also have the hardcore crowd. their $60 purchase will go far beyond the 4 months we've figured that would cover, so the longer they play, the more they are costing the company... but not really. a hardcore mmo player can easily be sold to, if they see the value in their purchase. dammit, i was gonna get all EC on this topic, but i'm too tired and can't brain good.

 

[Zhukov]

Fuckin' censorship man.

When will it end?

 

[Lunar Templar]

huh, does sound like its gonna for free to play.

Which I believe will happen VS Bethesda just yanking the plug on it.

Ether way, like some many others, if it does go F2p.

Called it!

Fuckin' censorship man.

When will it end?

Please tell me your trying to make a joke ...

 

[Erttheking]

huh, does sound like its gonna for free to play.

Which I believe will happen VS Bethesda just yanking the plug on it.

Ether way, like some many others, if it does go F2p.

Called it!

Fuckin' censorship man.

When will it end?

Please tell me your trying to me a joke ...

I know Zhukov and I can tell you he most certainly is joking.

 

[Lunar Templar]

huh, does sound like its gonna for free to play.

Which I believe will happen VS Bethesda just yanking the plug on it.

Ether way, like some many others, if it does go F2p.

Called it!

Fuckin' censorship man.

When will it end?

Please tell me your trying to make a joke ...

I know Zhukov and I can tell you he most certainly is joking.

Good, cause he seems a little to smart from his other posts to type out something that knee jerkish ...

*fixes my typo here to*

 

[Sight Unseen]

Why don't we listen to the official statement from EB Games saying that this is a standard post-holiday recall instead of this anonymous "source" claiming that ESO is somehow being singled out as a "special" recall among a bunch of other games. Until we have actual evidence, I'd appreciate the Escapist staff not claiming that rumours from anonymous sources qualify as actual news.

I know everyone here is all aboard the ESO hate train to Free-To-Play-Ville but could we please wait for the body to be dead before you start fitting it for a coffin and tombstone? Update 6 is just around the corner and the console version isn't even out yet (but still in development) I VERY much doubt that they'd go F2P BEFORE those two potentially massive sales boosters launch.

 

[Eri]

What do you expect when you make a game no one asked for and no one wanted?

 

[Xyebane]

Why don't we listen to the official statement from EB Games saying that this is a standard post-holiday recall instead of this anonymous "source" claiming that ESO is somehow being singled out as a "special" recall among a bunch of other games. Until we have actual evidence, I'd appreciate the Escapist staff not claiming that rumours from anonymous sources qualify as actual news.

I know everyone here is all aboard the ESO hate train to Free-To-Play-Ville but could we please wait for the body to be dead before you start fitting it for a coffin and tombstone? Update 6 is just around the corner and the console version isn't even out yet (but still in development) I VERY much doubt that they'd go F2P BEFORE those two potentially massive sales boosters launch.

This website is full of rumours as news, and the article clearly states its source. We get that you love ESO, good for you, some of us are interested in any talk of ESO going F2P.

Now can you please stop all this fluff about the 'ESO hate train' that you post in EVERY ESO thread? I feel like I'm in a Cardassian interrogation room. There are 4 lights!!

 

[Sight Unseen]

Why don't we listen to the official statement from EB Games saying that this is a standard post-holiday recall instead of this anonymous "source" claiming that ESO is somehow being singled out as a "special" recall among a bunch of other games. Until we have actual evidence, I'd appreciate the Escapist staff not claiming that rumours from anonymous sources qualify as actual news.

I know everyone here is all aboard the ESO hate train to Free-To-Play-Ville but could we please wait for the body to be dead before you start fitting it for a coffin and tombstone? Update 6 is just around the corner and the console version isn't even out yet (but still in development) I VERY much doubt that they'd go F2P BEFORE those two potentially massive sales boosters launch.

This website is full of rumours as news, and the article clearly states its source. We get that you love ESO, good for you, some of us are interested in any talk of ESO going F2P.

Now can you please stop all this fluff about the 'ESO hate train' that you post in EVERY ESO thread? I feel like I'm in a Cardassian interrogation room. There are 4 lights!!

Usually when dealing with rumours, the Escapist will toss a big "Rumour:" into the title of the article to let everyone know that it is, in fact, a rumour. And yes, they cited their source, which is Kotaku AU, whose source was an anonymous "informant" at EB Games. Just because they took their scoop from another website doesn't make the root source any more credible. We already have a credible source from EB Games officially saying that they are not removing only ESO stock and that this is in fact a routine inventory clearing for several games which were overstocked after the holiday season, including wildly popular games like Destiny.

I mean no disrespect but I don't see why so many people so avariciously seem to want this game to go f2p. I don't see WoW or EVE or even newer games like Wildstar getting nearly as much f2p speculation and prophesizing as ESO has gotten. It's been getting f2p speculation non-stop since the day they announced that it was going to be a subscription service, and every time there's ANY news about ESO all of the top comments are always "I'll play it when it goes f2p." I get that not everyone likes the idea of paying a subscription for games in general, and that some people may not be invested enough into Elder Scrolls lore to want to sub to this particular game, but this goes above and beyond that. It's like the majority of the internet wants this game to fail just to watch it crash and burn, merely because it's not "Skyrim with co-op" or The Elder Scrolls VI.

And if you're getting tired of me, the only person aside from one or maybe two others on this site, defending what I think of as a good game (albeit not perfect) that is at least worthy of a second look if nothing else, then imagine how tired I am of seeing 98% of everyone on the internet (stat completely pulled from my ass) calling for this game to go f2p in every news story about it, and creating and jumping on these tenuous rumours as proof and validation that they were right all along?

If they announce tomorrow that the game is going f2p, I'll be the first to admit I was wrong. but until then, I don't think it makes any sense for this game to be going f2p for at least the next 4-5 months to see how the console version and update 1.6 help/hurt the game.

I don't mean to rant specifically at you and I mean no ill will towards you, but ESO doesn't deserve a large fraction of the hate, apathy and abject dismissal that it's received by the internet at large, most of whom never even really looked at what the game is (some still call it a WoW clone to this day...) outside of listening to the internet consensus or the Angry Joe review and dismissing the game based on that.

And I'm going to try to defend it and promote it if I can. I don't care if you're getting tired of me. I'm getting tired of this too.

 

[Scars Unseen]

It's funny you mention useless boxes being sold. My former place of employment has two TOR disks and even a Legend of Conan disks for sale. One guy tried to buy one and I just nudged him saying it was free online.

Anyway, I don't know what's happening here. Probably not a good sign for ESO.

The local BX here had a copy of Horizons for sale(for $4) until a few years ago. Considering the game came out in 2003 and hasn't needed an up front purchase to play the game in gods know how long, that was something special.