Elder Scrolls Online drops the monthly subscription

As of today, it's official: Elder Scrolls Online has dropped its monthly subscription. Following the lead of successful games like The Secret World and Guild Wars 2, from this point forward Elder Scrolls Online will be a game that you buy once, and it will be free to play from then on.

Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited has been a controversial change, and a high-profile one. MMOs are increasingly forced to use the pay-once or free-to-play model, simply because players won't accept a game with a monthly subscription. Even World of Warcraft, one of the few remaining MMOs that charges a subscription, is going to launch an option where players will be able to pay for their subscriptions with in-game gold.

Here's hoping ESO can pull through these tough times and bounce back better than ever.

Image courtesy Flickr/Matt Avinger