Completing Legends: An Overlooked Digital Card Game Adventure

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Earlier this year, Bethesda closed its digital card game, The Elder Scrolls: Legends. This game was set during the Great War and was special because it combined a story with battles against AI, filling in details between Oblivion and Skyrim.

Despite being well-received with an average score of 80 on Metacritic, the game struggled to build a player community, leading Bethesda to decide that they could no longer keep the servers running. When it was shut down, even the offline components were taken away, making large parts of the Elder Scrolls lore unavailable except on YouTube.

This includes “The Fall of the Dark Brotherhood,” which provided interesting insights into what happened before Skyrim’s events.

Luckily, fans are stepping up to address this issue. About four months ago, u/RenianVZ announced a project called The Elder Scrolls: Legends Reborn. This community-based effort aims to bring the card game back online. “I’ve been working on a server emulator since the game was delisted,” they shared. “I wanted to give a quick update to anyone interested in our progress. There’s a lot of work ahead, but it’s a glimmer of hope for the community.”

There’s Still No Word On A Release Date, Though

They have been posting updates regularly about their progress, which they describe as featuring “a lot of trial and error” as they work to rebuild the servers. Some people are worried that Bethesda may have concerns about the project, but it seems unlikely since the company has supported the fan-made Oblivion remake. “I’d be surprised if it was ever on their radar,” u/RenianVZ said.

While the game is no longer available, it was free-to-play, so there are still ways to download it on Steam.

The latest update came over the weekend in the form of a 24-minute video showcasing a working multiplayer match with randomly-generated decks. This shows big progress compared to the error message players usually see when starting the game, but there’s still a lot of work remaining. When asked if they have “any idea when we might see a release,” u/RenianVZ responded, “Not yet; we’re still working as much as we can.”

Despite the challenges, this effort is a significant win for preserving games. It brings back an overlooked Elder Scrolls spin-off just months after it was taken offline. Since it holds some key narrative moments from the 4th Era outside of Skyrim, it would have been disappointing to lose Legends so soon. Hopefully, this fan project will succeed whenever it is ready to launch.