14 DAY TRIAL // The Elder Scrolls Online, the upcoming MMORPG from Bethesda and Zenimax Online Studios, will have a similar controller layout to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, although some changes have been made.
The Elder Scrolls Online promises to appear in spring for the PC and Mac and in June for the PS4 and Xbox One consoles. The game will be a full-fledged online role-playing game offering a big variety of abilities and mechanics to players.
As such, it needs a specific controller layout that makes wielding powers easy and intuitive.
According to the developer, who talked with PS blog, it's still testing out different controller layouts for the PS4's DualShock 4, but the core experience should be similar to Skyrim, the last Elder Scrolls game for consoles.
"We’re still testing and tweaking different Dualshock 4 button mapping configurations, but we’re very happy with the gameplay experience on the PlayStation 4. Abilities are conveniently accessible for fun “on the couch” gameplay, and the team is really happy with how it’s coming along. We’ll have more specifics to share about this topic later this year," the studio said.
"Throughout ESO’s development, our goal has been to create an MMO that is fun to play and is familiar to Skyrim fans. Gameplay in ESO isn’t identical to Skyrim, so naturally we’ve made some button configuration changes to reflect the differences, such as the use of abilities. At the same time, there are a lot of controller configuration similarities between Skyrim and ESO."
What’s more, the developer also confirmed that the DualShock 4's Touchpad would also be employed in some way in the new game.
"We love the additional functionality of the Dualshock 4 touchpad. We’re playing with a couple of different button configurations to find the best and most intuitive use for the touchpad."
The Elder Scrolls Online won't need a PS Plus subscription on the PS4, but it does require an Xbox Live Gold one on the Xbox One, besides its regular game subscription.