Earlier this year, Bethesda and id Software launched the highly anticipated Doom Eternal on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One to critical and commercial success. The title is one of the highest reviewed games of the year and the game's launch sales tripled those of the 2016 Doom reboot. Despite showcasing Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo at Sony's PlayStation 5 event this past June, Bethesda has been relatively quiet regarding its upcoming releases since Doom's launch, promising new announcements and reveals at this weekend's QuakeCon. Ahead of the show, the publisher has confirmed that it will be bringing Doom Eternal and The Elder Scrolls Online on both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.
This comes ahead of The Elder Scrolls Online's upcoming DLC, Stonethorn, which is scheduled to be released this November, and following the release of Greymoor this past June. The publisher has stated that it will have more information regarding the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions' technical enhancements and release windows "in the coming weeks and months." While the upgraded versions of both Doom Eternal and The Elder Scrolls Online will not be available at launch, Bethesda has confirmed that both titles will support backwards compatibility on both consoles from day one.
Most importantly, Bethesda has confirmed that both upgrades for Doom Eternal and The Elder Scrolls Online will be released for free to owners of the original titles and that it is "committed to offer free upgrades for current generation console owners of existing Bethesda titles we bring forward into the next generation of consoles," implying that the publisher is looking to bring free upgrades for the rest of its PlayStation 4 and Xbox One titles into the next generation. This is presumably so that it won't have to re-release The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim yet again.
Bethesda joins the likes of Ubisoft and CD Projekt Red in dedicating itself to launching free digital upgrades from current generation titles to the next generation of consoles, likely making use of Xbox's Smart Delivery feature. While Sony has yet to detail its own Smart Delivery functionality, the general idea seems to be that publishers can decide if they want to offer upgrades for pre-existing PlayStation 4 titles or opt-in to backwards compatibility, another function of the PlayStation 5 that Sony has yet to properly detail. This begs the question of when Bethesda intends to bring other 'live-service' titles such as Fallout 76 to next-generation consoles, as the publisher is seemingly continuing support for the title heading into 2021.
Doom Eternal is out now on Google Stadia, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, with a Nintendo Switch version planned for later this year. The Elder Scrolls Online is also out now for macOS, Google Stadia, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Source: Bethesda