Bethesda’s Free Next-Gen Upgrades Begin With Doom Eternal and Elder Scrolls Online

Still eager to rip and tear through Doom Eternal's upcoming DLC? Need more time to work your way through the Dark Heart of Skyrim in The Elder Scrolls Online? Good news: down the road, console players for both games will be treated to free upgrades to Xbox Series X or PS5 versions of both games, and Bethesda says the same will be true for any of its other current-gen titles it chooses to upgrade for next-gen.

Bethesda announced the move on its official website today. As with other free next-gen upgrade programs, it will apply within the same family of consoles: "Players who own or purchase either title on Xbox One or PlayStation 4 will be able to upgrade for free to the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 versions, respectively, when those versions are available," Bethesda says.

There's no word on when to expect these upgrades for Doom Eternal or The Elder Scrolls Online, but Bethesda goes on to say it's "working hard to ensure both titles will support backwards compatibility when the new consoles launch."

As for other games in its back catalogue—say, maybe Fallout 76 or even Skyrim—Bethesda confirms that it's "committed to offer free upgrades for current generation console owners of existing Bethesda titles" that get brought forward to Series X or PS5.

It's very possible that we'll get more news on Bethesda's plans for games both new and old quite soon. Tomorrow marks the start of QuakeCon At Home, which could bring us a look at Doom's DLC, the next story beat in Elder Scrolls Online, or even some more gameplay from Arkane's timed PS5 console exclusive Deathloop.