The Elder Scrolls: Legends players are sharing commiserations online as the digital card game they've been playing for years has gone dark once and for all.
The Elder Scrolls: Legends launched in 2017 and despite the art being a little underwhelming in places, quickly proved to be "a deep and potentially rewarding alternative to Hearthstone." There were rough patches in the early days, but the game seemed to turn a corner with the Isle of Madness expansion in 2019. But it was never able to seriously challenge Blizzard for the card game crown, and development was halted later that same year. The game continued to operate, but in November 2024 Bethesda announced that it would go away for good on January 30.
There was disappointment then, and a little bit of anger over the upcoming loss of a game many players had sunk money into, but that seems mostly gone now. In its place, there's a shared sense of loss and mourning on the Elder Scrolls: Legends subreddit, where players are posting farewell messages and images of their final stats and server error messages.
"We may not know each other, but I've certainly met many of you in the game," redditor Laew_Yrsiy wrote. "Thank you all for being my opponents. Especially to those who stayed until the end. See you in Sovngarde."
"Thanks for all of those incredible times together," TurningRain wrote in another thread. "All the miracles, all the lethal prophecies, even the Oblivion gates opened. Cheers, guys. May we meet again!"
"Five years ago I discovered a game that, as for many of us, has become a regular part of my life," Fyreflyre1 wrote in a "heartfelt goodbye" message. "I want to thank Bethesda, the dev team, the maintenance squad for keeping this alive as fan service, and all of you players for being competitive, friendly, creative, and joyous in your appreciation for TESL. We have been fortunate to experience what is definitively one of the greatest games of all time, and I wish all of you the best of gamer goodness as we each try to fill the void this remarkable piece of software will leave."
As a PvP card game, The Elder Scrolls: Legends doesn't have the same potential for a momentous farewell as MMOs like Blue Protocol, which marked its final hours with a big in-game dance party. But videos of final matches are making the rounds on YouTube, and they land with an even greater weight of sadness because there's no farewell festival or celebration of comradeship and adventure: It's just the end of a match, an error message, and nothing.
Also a bit sad is that Bethesda has let the moment pass with commemoration. The Elder Scrolls: Legends feed on X has been silent since November 2022, and I haven't seen a word about the closure shared on any of Bethesda's other social networks. But the tributes pouring in from players carry more sincerity than any canned corporate closure sign-off would anyway. As The Elder Scrolls: Legends subreddit moderator Tywnis put it: "To you all, the rampers, the aggros, the mids, the late gamers, the sore losers/winners, the ropers, the invaders, the comboers, all, yes, all—whoever you are: You are Legends."
