Bethesda will shut down a game it had forgotten about.

Bethesda, one of the most beloved developers in the video game world, is facing criticism for its lack of long-term support for several of its titles, with the notable exception of Skyrim, which receives constant attention. Recently, the company announced the closure of The Elder Scrolls: Legends, its collectible card game created with the ambition of competing with Hearthstone. The decision to close the game did not surprise the community, as Legends had not received updates since 2019, just two years after its launch, and its player base has gradually declined.

Although Bethesda implemented certain improvements after the launch, these were not enough to keep the game competitive in a market saturated with hits like Hearthstone, Gwent, and Slay the Spire. Currently, The Elder Scrolls: Legends is no longer available for purchase on Steam, and players who still have the game installed will see a message announcing that the servers will permanently shut down on January 30, 2025.

As a small consolation, all in-game items and events have seen their cost reduced to just one gold, allowing the remaining players to explore the entire experience the title has to offer. However, the news has left many disappointed. Although Legends did not have a large fan base, it had a loyal group that now feels frustrated by the loss of access to a game in which they invested real money. While it is likely that a private server will be initiated to keep some aspect of the game alive, in-app purchases will be permanently lost.

Certainly, Legends is not the first game to shut down despite having a loyal following, and it surely will not be the last. This phenomenon is the inevitable result of how video game rights are structured, as Steam has made clear to its users: on the platform, players do not truly own the games they purchase.