Elder Scrolls Blades might have been the most unexpected announcement to come out of the Bethesda E3 presentation. The free-to-play Elder Scrolls mobile title will release later this year; for mobile devices and PC, and with VR support from launch. Speaking in a recent interview, Todd Howard explained Bethesda’s approach to monetization in the upcoming game.

Monetization in The Elder Scrolls Blades

Director Todd Howard addressed monetization during an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. He expressed hopes that Bethesda would utilize a “lighter touch with monetization,” as they had with Fallout Shelter. Howard appeared dismissive of a simple microtransaction-based approach, stating; “How do we keep somebody who’s playing the game a lot? How do we give them value beyond ‘Here’s a timer, give us some money’?”

His opinion is likely to be seen as positive by many gamers. After all, most people are, at best, ambivalent to micro-transactions. However, when handled poorly, they can quickly sour an audience’s opinion of a game. As such, not relying too exclusively on micro-transactions seems a wise move for Bethesda.

The Elder Scrolls Blades in China

Howard also stated that Bethesda was looking to market Elder Scrolls Blades in China; one of the largest mobile gaming markets in the world. “We’re working with Shanda games in China,” he explained; “which is doing an online version of Fallout Shelter there, so we’ve made some inroads. I think Blades, whereas it’s not built for China per se, knowing their gaming tastes, it is definitely applicable in China and other parts of the world where Fallout Shelter and some other things we do are maybe not as much.”

Due to the strict controls placed on gaming by the Chinese government, most developers work with local development studios to create localizations. However, the market is very different to that of the west; micro-transactions are far more accepted, for instance. The mobile gaming market in particular is also infamous for copyright violations and blatant copies; numerous companies have been involved in lawsuits over Chinese clones of their games. Howard is clearly aware of the differences, however. “It’s one of those things where if you look at Chinese games,” he explained; “people will tell you they need to be like this, they need to have this art style, they need to have crap all over the screen… But Blades, there’s nothing else like it, but I view that as a positive to whatever market it’s in.”