ZeniMax's 2025 Elder Scrolls Online Direct provided players with an overview of what the developers are planning to deliver in the coming months. While the direct covered a number of topics, the overarching theme was "You Belong Here." ZeniMax is committed to ensuring that ESO is accessible and fun to players of all types, now and in the future.

The biggest change to ESO is going to be how ZeniMax adds new content to the game. As they announced last year, ESO will no longer be getting annual chapter releases. Instead of following the standard structure of a chapter, ZeniMax is aiming for a shorter release cadence with more variety.

By not focusing on a full chapter release, the developers hope to add new features and content while also taking the time to revamp existing content. Some examples of what they've already done under the new structure include the updated tutorial, the visual upgrades made to the starter islands, and the Cyrodill Champions experiment. Other items on the to-do list include overhauling the UI on the PC, improving combat, and making a better PC patcher. [Editor's note: Improving the Xbox patcher would also be nice. One big downside was having to download massive game updates on a regular basis.]

The Cyrodill Champions experiment was a step toward encouraging players to jump into massive PvP battles. It's something that was a part of ESO when it first launched, but as the game grew in size over the years, lag could crop up during large fights. The team wants to ensure that any lag is eliminated so PvP can be something that's experienced on an epic scale.

One of the new features on the horizon is a Welcome Back feature. Hardcore players likely won't need it, but for anyone who's had real life intrude on their gameplay time, it should be a welcome addition. The goal is to provide someone who's been away from ESO for a while an easy way to refresh their memory of the key systems of the game and where they are in the story. ZeniMax likened it to the "Last time on X..." recaps that TV shows sometimes do when a new season starts.

New story content is going to be picking up some old threads that were introduced in the base game, when ESO started in 2014. Seasons of the Worm Cult is essentially a sequel to the base game's storyline and the original enemy, Molag Bal. Now, the Worm Cult is back. There's a brand-new island, Solstice, to explore, but the details of the cult's return are shrouded in mystery. You'll need to figure out what they're after if you hope to stop them.
Solstice is smaller than other territories. Looking at the map, it's located directly south of — and roughly a quarter of the size of — Murkmire. The island is populated mostly by Argonians and High Elves, but other races are also present. The western side of Solstice was designed with a Caribbean theme, while the main city — Sunport — looks to be styled after traditional fantasy castles. There's even a new tribe, the Tideborn, to meet.

New monsters are appearing on Solstice, including new Argonian Behemoths, Stone Argonians, and demonic-looking Daedra.

Because it's not shipping as a chapter, content for Seasons of the Worm Cult will appear in smaller chunks over the course of the year. Expect to see story content, dungeons, and a new in-game event. As the story progresses, a number of returning characters from the past decade of ESO will show up as your allies in-game. These characters include Gabrielle, Prince Azah, Razum-Dar, Skordo, and Venus Galerion, among others.

Ossein Cage is a new 12-person trial scheduled to be released in Update 46. Ossein Cage is a gigantic vault in Coldharbour that holds a powerful Daedric relic that absorbs pain and suffering and turns it into power. That sounds like just the sort of thing that Molag Bal's crew would want to snag for themselves. You need to infiltrate the vault and destroy the Dolorous Cista before Molag Bal's followers can get to it.

Subclassing is another major feature that's coming to ESO in June. Subclassing allows you to learn skill lines from other classes without having to roll a new character. After you hit level 50 with a character, you unlock the ability to add and remove skill lines for your account. You'll be able to mix/match skill lines to build a character with a custom set of abilities. There are more than 3,000 different options to choose from when mixing skill lines. That's a lot more variety than the seven classes you can normally choose in-game.

Last, but not least, ESO is going to have its first, server-wide, real-time story event with the Writhing Wall. The wall initially blocks off Eastern Solstice, which is where the Worm Cult has its base of operations. All players will have to work together to breach the wall. Servers that have players working in tandem will progress faster than servers that don't. Breaking through the Writing Wall sets up players for the final update of the year.

Because there is no overarching chapter releasing this year, ZeniMax is selling a content pass for ESO. The content pass includes the Fallen Banners dungeon pack, Seasons of the Worm Cult Part 1 (June 2025), the Writhing Wall event (Q3 2025), the Feast of Shadows dungeon pack (Q3 2025), and Seasons of the Worm Cult Part 2 (Q4 2025).

To tease the Seasons of the Worm Cult DLC for Elder Scrolls Online, the prologue quest is available to play as of April 10, 2025. Additionally, all players can claim a free in-game pet by using the reward code: 2025ESODirect. The code is valid until June 20, 2025, at 10 a.m. Eastern Time.