It has been a while since we’ve heard any news about “The Elder Scrolls Online,” but this week Bethesda finally began accepting beta sign-ups for the upcoming MMO game. To commemorate the forthcoming PC-based "Elder Scrolls" adventure, the company also released a brand new six-minute trailer.

Signing up for “The Elder Scrolls Online” beta essentially means that certain players will be selected to preview and test the game before it officially launches. Not everyone that signs up is given access to “The Elder Scrolls Online” beta, but fans are only eligible to be chosen after registration. Bethesda hasn’t made it explicitly clear when the beta would launch, but the company said these details would be made available at a later date.

To sign up for “The Elder Scrolls Online” beta, follow this link and click the “Sign up for beta” button. This will bring up a page asking for some personal information, such as country of residence, first and last name, gender, etc. In addition, you’ll need to provide information about previous MMO and “The Elder Scrolls” games you have played as well as your PC’s system information. Of course, there’s no guarantee that every registrant will be granted access to the game, but a sidebar displays your beta selection probability as you complete the registration.

As for the trailer, players learn about the three main alliances that will battle for power over Tamriel and the Imperial City. These alliances include the Aldmeri Dominion, the Daggerfall Covenant and the Ebonheart Pact. The lengthy cinematic clip showcases the dynamic graphics and dazzling special effects that players can expect from the game, although it does little to explain exactly what the plot will be like. There isn’t any dialogue, but the clip serves to incite the imagination and emanate a sense of adventure.

“The Elder Scrolls Online” was officially unveiled back in May, and it marks the first massive multiplayer online game to come from the franchise yet. In addition to introducing its widely popular RPG adventure to the MMO space, Bethesda is also attempting to create a more seamless experience for fans of the genre.

Zenimax Online, Bethesda’s parent company, is implanting its brand new “Megaserver technology” into “The Elder Scrolls Online.” This means that players will automatically be able to interact with one another when playing “The Elder Scrolls Online” rather than having to select the same server.

No hard release date has been set yet, but Bethesda has previously announced that it will launch this year. It’s only planned to debut on PCs, but a console version has not been ruled out. In an interview with GamesIndustry back in July, the studio’s head Matt Firor spoke briefly on the matter.

“There are a lot of rumors swirling around the next-gen coming back together with PCs,” he said during the summer. “It seems like things are going back to a more standard platform. That being said, we haven’t thought about it heavily right now. The worst thing you can do is worry about new platforms while in development.”

He continued to discuss what makes PCs so different from consoles, such as the Xbox 360, when it comes to the right technology for MMO gameplay.

“The 360, when announced, was a pretty ridiculously cool device, but it is not so good anymore compared to PCs, and, even when it was announced, PCs were still better than it,” he said. “The technology was a little limiting for the size and scope of the world you could have. It mostly comes down to PCs being wide open. Online game development is all about doing whatever you want, pushing limitations, and it’s just easier to do on an open platform. Someday, it may all change.”

We have yet to hear about whether or not the game will require a subscription fee, but we’re sure to hear more about “The Elder Scrolls Online” in the coming months. In the meantime, check out the trailer below.

Software Beta