Whoops – seems Bethesda’s marketing plan for The Elder Scrolls Online’s upcoming expansion Elsweyr has gone awry, as a tabletop RPG adventure named after 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 the new game seems little more than a rewording.
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.
