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Elder Scrolls Online Season Zero Dawn and Dusk Release Date, Night Market, Free DLC, and Crossplay Prep

Category: Elder Scrolls Online Posted: Mar 31, 2026 Views: 27

On April 2nd, The Elder Scrolls Online Season Zero: Dawn and Dusk will begin. Over the three months from April 2nd to July 8th, a wealth of free content will be added to the game.

This marks the official end of the previous model, which relied on large annual Chapters and paid content updates. It may well be one of the most exciting changes ESO has seen in a long time. Let's take a closer look at what this shift will bring to players.

Elder Scrolls Online Season Zero Dawn and Dusk Release Date, Night Market, Free DLC, and Crossplay Prep

What Is a Season?

You may already be familiar with the term “season” from other games, but in ESO, it's a brand-new concept.

Fundamentally, a season replaces Chapters and DLCs. The development team will still maintain the familiar quarterly update rhythm, but all new content will be directly accessible to every player without requiring an ESO Plus subscription or any separate acquisition of new DLC. This includes fresh quests, dungeons, zones, and gameplay systems.

The developers have stated that they don't want to lock themselves into a fixed template. Some seasons may focus on story and narrative, others on system overhauls, some on quality-of-life improvements, and still others on bold experiments.

Why the Shift to a Season Model?

The developers realized that Chapter model not only created a barrier in terms of cost but also caused confusion among players. On Discord and Reddit, players repeatedly asked: What content should they get? Which Chapters do they need? What is required to keep up with the current mainstream gameplay? What is optional?

Beyond the confusion, Chapter model also seemed to lock the open-world team into an 18-month development cycle, where everything had to revolve around that year's major Chapter. This made it difficult for them to respond quickly to player feedback.

They believe the new season model will provide the development team with greater flexibility, allowing them to adjust direction in a timely manner, address emerging issues, and fix designs that aren't working.

Season Zero: Dawn and Dusk

Base Game

The release of Season Zero: Dawn and Dusk on April 2nd should be considered a transitional phase, but for new players, it's still exciting. At that time, Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, and Orsinium will all become part of the base game for every player.

Of course, this isn't brand-new content. If you've already experienced these zones and completed their storylines, the change will have limited personal impact. But at the very least, even if you cancel your subscription in the future, you'll still retain access to this content.

Season Zero offers much more than that. It also includes a series of quality-of-life updates, such as finally raising the furnishing placement limit for some houses, and adding new mounts that can be obtained using Elder Scrolls Online gold. Going forward, the developers may move more items out of Crown Store or provide more options outside of it.

Night Market

Perhaps the most eye-catching new feature is Night Market – a PvE zone with higher difficulty. It is designed for group play, with all enemies posing a greater threat, making it more suitable for max-level players. It also offers both 4-player and 12-player raids.

Between April 29 and June 17, you can earn reputation with one of three factions by completing activities in this zone. Each faction offers different rewards in terms of items and costumes, and as your reputation grows, that faction's merchants will unlock more goods. Once Night Market starts, it is sure to become a major focus for players.

Class & Skill Line Updates

Season Zero will also include the previously mentioned Dragonknight class update, along with changes to Werewolf skill line and Two-Handed skill line. Although these are existing skill lines, the changes seem to introduce new incentives, encouraging players to invest time in them again to unlock new skill styles or other collectibles. Additionally, PvP will see significant changes that go beyond Vengeance mechanic, introducing a brand-new progression system along with various PvP-exclusive rewards.

Tamriel Tomes

On April 2, the game will also introduce Tamriel Tomes system – which you can think of as a kind of Battle Pass. It will replace the daily login rewards, Endeavor system, and the content pass.

A very important note: while the new gameplay content is free-for-all players, and part of Tamriel Tomes is also free, unlocking all collectibles within a season – meaning all cosmetic items – will require a fee for that season's Tamriel Tomes.

Starting with Season 0, all new gameplay content will be completely free for players who already owns ESO or plays through Game Pass. The developers have clearly stated that there will still be optional paid items. While optional paid features will still exist, most of ESO's content will be accessible to all, potentially attracting a large influx of new players.

Crossplay

There are also some practical changes worth noting. After Season Zero, each season will last three months, and updates for PC and consoles will go live simultaneously. This is likely a necessary step in preparing for cross-platform play.

The developers have confirmed once again that cross-platform play is actively being developed, although it sounds like it is not expected to launch within 2026. But the sooner this feature arrives, the better – crossplay can ensure that there are enough players for in-game activities, making it easier for everyone to find teammates, while also allowing the community to actively report bugs and suggest improvements. In short, it would create a positive feedback loop.

How do you feel about ESO's Season Zero? Are you looking forward to the changes ahead? Dawn and Dusk will be here soon – let's hope it brings positive changes to The Elder Scrolls Online.

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