The Elder Scrolls Online maps out 2026 seasons, with Night Market in April and naval combat later this year

ZeniMax Online has outlined what’s next for The Elder Scrolls Online in 2026, starting with Season 0: Dawn and Dusk on April 2 across all platforms. The studio says seasons are expected to run for three months, and the first one includes the Fargrave-based Night Market event zone, a new opt-in challenge difficulty for overland play, and more PvP testing and reward changes.

The bigger picture is a shift to a seasonal roadmap instead of focusing on one big annual drop. Some of what was shown is locked in for the next few months, while other pieces are still farther out. A few of the more notable teases include Thieves Guild content this summer, naval combat later in 2026, and a return to Skyrim in 2027 with a new zone.

• Season 0 launches April 2 on all platforms.
• The Night Market opens during Season 0 for seven weeks. It’s built for groups, but not group-only, and includes three NPC factions and a house called Night’s Den earned through questing.
• Challenge difficulty, previously discussed as overland difficulty, arrives June 8. Players can opt into one of four difficulty settings in the open world and some other content for better rewards.
• The Vengeance PvP test campaign will return during Season 0, alongside broader combat updates and a new Veterancy rewards system for PvP.
• Season 1 this summer adds new Thieves Guild quest content, a Glenumbra refresh, a Thieves Guild house, and a new puzzle-focused activity called Sage’s Vault.
• Season 2 and later plans include naval content with sea combat, fishing, pirates, underwater exploration, and the Crimson Veldt trial, described as the first new base-game trial in more than a decade.
• Older dungeons are also being reworked for solo play, with two planned first and more to follow.
• Crossplay and guild housing are still in development, but neither is slated for this year.

Season 1 also sounds like it’ll lean harder into questing. ZeniMax mentioned a new Sheogorath questline, plus two quest formats called Favors and Rumors. Favors are framed as ongoing story arcs, while Rumors are meant to be less guided and more old-school in how they send players out to figure things out.

Looking further ahead, ZeniMax confirmed that 2027 will take players back to Skyrim, but not to a part of the province ESO has used before. That update will add the game’s first Excursion Zone and dynamic blizzards that affect gameplay in the area.

There’s one platform note too: ESO is coming to PC Game Pass and Xbox Play Anywhere on June 2. While this is nice to see, I wonder when World of Warcraft will make its way to gamepass. That’s something players have hoped for since the day Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard.