Launching last year, The Elder Scrolls Online rolled out a storyline featuring the familiar, albeit different, locale of Skyrim, rolling out new content across a year-long adventure called The Dark Heart of Skyrim. The large-scale expansion not only introduced an unexplored version of the fan-favorite realm, but also a myriad of new content and activities for players to engage with. Upon the start of 2021, ESO has now revealed the game’s next year-long storyline in the form of Gates of Oblivion, taking inspiration from the series’ fourth mainline entry.

Revealed in a new announcement from Bethesda, Gates of Oblivion was unveiled as an all-new saga rolling out over the remainder of 2021. Two DLCs are currently slated for the upcoming adventure, with Flames of Ambition laying the seeds for the annual tale this March before fully arriving with the Blackwood chapter in June. The expansion is touted as delivering over 30 hours of new story content, as well as the expansive new Blackwood zone, a new Companions system, among a number of other big inclusions.

Set 800 years before the events of Oblivion, the story for the new Elder Scrolls Online expansion is said to follow the player as they “investigate a conspiracy involving the deposed Longhouse Emperors” and “unravel the ambitions and schemes of the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon.” The debuting Blackwood zone is the new stage for the epic adventure, with players set to “explore a diverse land in strife, investigate the emerging Daedric threat, and discover all-new stories, challenges, and rewards not found anywhere else in Tamriel.”

Blackwood will stretch from southern Cyrodiil towards the far end of Shadowfen. Players will also be able to visit the Deadlands during their adventures! pic.twitter.com/yWE7TOxGba

— The Elder Scrolls Online (@TESOnline) January 26, 2021

Apart from the main chapter, Blackwood will also see the introduction of fresh content, namely the new Companions system. Enabling players to “recruit, travel, and fight with an ally NPC,” the feature allows players to have their own backup in “almost all” of their adventures. Under the system, companions will be outfitted with “their own stories and character,” and players will be able to “level up their skills, and use customizable gear and combat abilities and behaviors” in their travels. Other mentioned features in the Blackwood chapter include:

• A new 12-player Trial: Rockgrove
• New world events: Oblivion Portals
• New delves, public dungeons, world bosses, and stand-alone quests
• Updates and quality-of-life improvements

A new feature coming to ESO with Blackwood is the Companions system! Customize their gear, abilities, and more to help you on your adventures. pic.twitter.com/GEz5oJsbMF

— The Elder Scrolls Online (@TESOnline) January 26, 2021

Of course, ahead of Blackwood, The Elder Scrolls Online will release the ​​Flames of Ambition DLC, acting as a precursor to all the events to come. Two PvE challenges, ‘The Cauldron’ and ‘Black Drake Villa,’ are part of this content and will see players “assault a shrine to the Prince of Destruction and race to uncover a mysterious tome before it is lost to fire and ash.” These challenges will feature the return of Dremora Lyranth and Eveli Sharp-Arrow from the Orsinium DLC, and promises to yield “powerful new items and fantastic collectibles.”

Flames of Ambition is the first DLC in the #GatesOfOblivion year-long adventure. It includes two new dungeons: The Cauldron and Black Drake Villa. pic.twitter.com/W4DTsL97As

— The Elder Scrolls Online (@TESOnline) January 26, 2021

As of now, the Flames of Ambition DLC is first set to arrive for PC, Mac, and Stadia on March 8th, with console players getting the content the next week on March 16th. The Blackwood chapter is similarly scheduled to release first on June 1st, with console versions rolling out on June 8th. Two additional DLCs are also slated for sometime in 2021, with an unannounced dungeon pack coming in Q3 before a new story zone concludes the Gates of Oblivion story in Q4.

The Elder Scrolls Online is out now for Google Stadia, Mac, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, as well as PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S via backward compatibility.

What do you think? Are you excited to check out what Gates of Oblivion has to offer for The Elder Scrolls Online, or are you bummed the wait is so long before Blackwood finally arrives? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to follow Don’t Feed the Gamers on Twitter and Facebook to be informed of the latest gaming and entertainment news 24 hours a day! For more headlines recently featured on DFTG, check out these next few news stories:

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