Whoops – seems Bethesda’s marketing plan for The Elder Scrolls Online’s upcoming expansion Elsweyr has gone awry, as a tabletop RPG adventure created to promote the update has been accused of plagiarism.
Bethesda Netherlands shared the free Elder Scrolls-themed RPG on Tuesday, but it only took a matter of hours for people to notice similarities with D&D adventure The Black Road, which was published by Wizards of the Coast in 2016. The similarities are both numerous and obvious – ranging from shared character names to practically identical item lists – and much of Bethesda’s game seems like little more than a rewording.
— Ben Heisler (@ZhentarimPR) May 8, 2019
Shortly after the RPG’s release, The Black Road’s co-author Paige Leitman created several comparison slides displaying the two pieces side by side. Her Facebook post has since been deleted, with Leitman resolving to “let the powers that be handle this” – but the full set of slides is still viewable via Ars Technica.
After the complaints began to emerge, Bethesda removed the Elsweyr RPG and issued a statement via Twitter pledging to investigate the matter. If you want to be nosy and compare notes, you can find Ars Technica’s archived version here.
We have pulled a previously shared ESO tabletop RPG adventure while we investigate the source. Thank you to those who reached out with concerns.
— The Elder Scrolls Online (@TESOnline) May 8, 2019
It’s not a great look for Bethesda in PR terms, but beyond that the incident potentially opens the company up to legal action. Given Elsweyr is famous as the home of the Khajiit in the Elder Scrolls universe, perhaps someone was just a little too eager to follow the theme. Copycat.
