Both the Elder Scrolls Online (read our review here) and Doom Eternal (same for here) have attracted many fans since they launched in 2014, and March 2020 respectively. And now, fans will be glad to hear that Bethesda has announced that both these games will have free upgrades to their next-gen counterparts.
The transition will be locked within the console family that you already own – there’s no switching from Xbox to PlayStation or vice versa. It’s strictly between Xbox One to Series X, and PS4 to PS5. The games won’t be available to upgrade out of the gate though. We’ll have to wait until both consoles launch first. We still don’t know exactly when that will be, and even then, Bethesda says that the upgrade window will follow it at an undetermined point in the future.
The upgrade only applies to players who already have the current-gen version in their libraries, so if for whatever reason you haven’t picked up one of 2020s most action-packed shooters, or an MMORPG that has been getting positive reception as of late, you can grab a copy right now and enjoy a free upgrade to the next generation. However, that you might want to be sure that you’re sticking around on that console family for the reason stated above.
In case you can’t wait though, Bethesda has said that it’s also working to “ensure both titles will support backward compatibility when the new consoles launch.” So for players looking to upgrade their consoles as soon as possible, it means that they won’t be left out being unable to play their game of choice while waiting for the next-gen versions to come out. Microsoft has already committed to having full backward compatibility as a key selling point between generations, while Sony’s plans are a little less concrete. The company has previously stated that games would be compatible on a case by case basis, but given what Bethesda has said here, these two games should be part of that.
Bethesda says it is “committed to offering free upgrades for current-generation console owners of existing Bethesda titles we bring forward.”. Going off of that, we can assume that Fallout 76 or Skyrim‘s (don’t laugh, it might happen) next-gen equivalents will be free upgrades as well.
Finally, they say that more news about the games will be shared shortly, which coincides with QuakeCon, which lasts from August 7 to August 9.