The Elder Scrolls: Legends enters open beta on PC

QuakeCon 2016 is officially underway, and Bethesda has kicked it off by making a pretty big announcement. The Elder Scrolls: Legends, Bethesda's effort to capture some of the massive audience drawn in by Hearthstone, has entered open beta on PC. The game was previously available as part of an invite-only closed beta, but now Bethesda has opened the floodgates, letting everyone who's interested have an early look at the game.

Though The Elder Scrolls: Legends will likely change in some aspects before it gets a full release sometime later this year, the basic concept is simple enough: take the virtual card games that have proven to be so wildly popular and add a certain Elder Scrolls flair to it. While Hearthstone players jumping into the beta will definitely notice some similarities between the two games, there are still a few things that make Legends stand out, such as its two-lane board that players will battle to control.

Of course, that's not to suggest that The Elder Scrolls: Legends is ripping off Hearthstone, as both games draw heavy inspiration from the be-all-end-all of collectible card games, Magic: The Gathering. The Elder Scrolls: Legends seems varied enough that it might be the best candidate to challenge Hearthstone's dominance in the virtual card game space, but we'll have to wait and see how this open beta goes before we can make that determination.

Like most card games on the scene right now, The Elder Scrolls: Legends is free-to-play, though it gives players the opportunity to purchase additional card packs to bolster their collections. Bethesda plans to launch the game on PC, Mac, Android, and iOS, but at the moment the public beta is only available on PC with no word on whether or not it will roll out to the other platforms before launch. Those interested in giving the game a spin can download it now through Bethesda's own games launcher – something you should already have if you downloaded Fallout Shelter when it launched on PC last month.