The Elder Scrolls Online's next annual expansion will add a new, "never-before-seen" world, bucking the MMO's recent trend of centering its yearly chapters around regions from mainline Elder Scrolls games.
ZeniMax and Bethesda have released the first teaser trailer for The Elder Scrolls Online's untitled 2022 year-long storyline, with the full reveal set to air on Twitch on January 27 at 12pm PT / 3pm ET. The above teaser shows off a stormy scene and a perilous trip toward an unnamed coastal city for a few ships, and we also see an armored knight climbing some stone steps, but the specific region of Tamriel (or maybe even a different continent?) isn't clear.
The two most recent Elder Scrolls Online chapters - Blackwood and Greymoor - take players back to regions from two of the most popular games in the series, The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, respectively. The MMO's very first chapter update is based in Vvardenfell, the setting of Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind. But with its next yearly expansion, Elder Scrolls Online will instead introduce a region that hasn't been explored in Elder Scrolls Online or any other Elder Scrolls game.
"Across a vast sea awaits 2022's newest adventure for The Elder Scrolls Online," ZeniMax says of this year's update. "The coming year will satisfy a desire of Elder Scrolls fans everywhere by introducing a never-before-seen world and a tale that has yet to be told."
Whether the new region is part of established lore already and just hasn't been shown before, something ZeniMax created from the ground up for ESO, or even part of a new continent separate from Tamriel, remains to be seen. Hopefully these questions and more will be answered later this month.
For everything else on the horizon, keep tabs on our extensive guide to new games of 2022.
