Zenimax Online has revealed to USG that following the release of Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4, it has reached 13.5 million lifetime players. That's 2.5 million new players in a single year, up from the 11 million announced during Bethesda's E3 2018 presentation. Bethesda stresses that this number does not count free trials, but does count those who play on Xbox Game Pass.
"It seems like ever since our One Tamriel update back in 2016, which leveled out the leveling curve and let everyone play with everyone else, that's when the game really started taking off," Elder Scrolls Online game director Matt Firor tells USG. "We did have a pretty hefty explosion of player from [late December 2018] through [February 2019] that took us off-guard. We didn't know we were going to be that popular, which is a great problem to have."