Bethesda's Pete Hines believes that The Elder Scrolls Online will justify its not-so-well-received subscription fee with regular releases of substantial new content, according to a recent interview with Gamespot (thanks VG247). The PR vice president revealed that Bethesda feel "pretty strongly about the support we’re going to have for the game and what you’re going to get for those dollars."

“We’re also very confident in our ability to support it with content. And not content of the magnitude of, it’s a new month, here’s a new sword or here’s a funny hat, but content that is real and significant and it feels like regular and consistent DLC releases.”

Hines also further justified the somewhat dated subscription model by explaining that had the title gone the free-to-play route, an a la carte DLC approach that splits the community according to who owns what DLC wouldn’t work. The decision to go for the subscription model meant that this wouldn't happen, and that all players were on the same content page.

"So you wind up in a situation where you say, look, by and large, when you're talking about regular content, adding new features and new parts of the world, either you're all in or you're not."

The Elder Scrolls Online launches April 4th for PC and Mac, with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions to follow in June. A new weekend beta will be available this coming weekend, with those who were previously fortunate to gain access able to return with existing characters.