The Elder Scrolls Online was recently updated to ditch its subscription service. It still costs money to play, as you have to buy the game. But beyond that, there's no subscription fee involved and you can play the game for as long as you like, experiencing all the content the game has to offer.
To make a bit of profit, the game has an in-game store that sells vanity items that do not affect the progress you make in the game.
Much has changed since the game was released last year. In an effort to showcase the newly refurbished game, the developers at Zenimax Online Studios are opening The Elder Scrolls Online for free to all beta players who never purchased the game to enjoy a free weekend of gameplay.
Prospective players will be able to download the game and experience all of our six major game updates, tons of improvements and fixes, and all of Tamriel Unlimited.
The free weekend runs from Thursday, April 16th at 10:00 AM EDT through Monday, April 20th at 10:00 AM EDT.