Saving The Elder Scrolls: Blades
A brief on approaching Bethesda and Microsoft to preserve a game that's about to be turned off — and the legal, technical, and corporate conditions that shape what's possible.
The gathering place for Blades players. Long-time community driver. If you arrived here from there: thank you. If not: that's where the people are.
Rust-based reimplementation of the Blades backend. The community-server endgame this preservation project is feeding. Marius also produced the modified Android APK that opts in to a user-installed CA — without which Android capture would not work.
A game is shutting down. Several paths remain to keep it playable.
The Elder Scrolls: Blades — a first-person mobile RPG by Bethesda Game Studios — will permanently shut down on June 30, 2026. Already delisted from all storefronts, the game is entirely server-dependent: when servers stop, the app becomes inert. Towns players built over six years, characters leveled for thousands of hours, PvP rivalries — without action, all of it is unreachable on shutdown day.
Delisted
Removed from App Store, Google Play, and Nintendo eShop. No new players can download the game — only existing installs remain.
Server-dependent
The game requires a live connection to Bethesda's servers for all functionality. There is no offline mode. When servers go dark, the app becomes inert.
Zero revenue
Monthly revenue has been declining for years. All in-app items now cost 1 gem/sigil. The game generates effectively no income.
After June 30, 2026 — what survives, platform by platform
Even with a fully working community server, the experience after shutdown depends entirely on which device you own. Android can carry the game forward for years. iOS cannot — not without specific help from Bethesda. Without that help, the iOS path becomes irreversible as device populations age out.
Android
- APKs can be reverse-engineered, modified, re-signed, and redistributed. The community has already produced a custom Blades APK that opts in to a user-installed CA — the same engineering needed for a community-server build.
- Runs on phones, tablets, and PC emulators (BlueStacks, LDPlayer, Waydroid, Android Studio AVD). Even after Android phones age out, the emulator path keeps Blades playable on a desktop forever.
- Practical preservation horizon: as long as someone runs the community server. No further help from Bethesda required.
Switch
- Not yet researched in detail. Broad strokes: Switch eShop titles are encrypted, but the homebrew community has long-standing tooling (Atmosphère CFW, NXDumpTool) for dumping titles from a hackable console.
- Practical path: a community-dumped NSP plus traffic redirection (custom DNS or system patches) to point the game at the community server. Doable, but harder to set up than mobile, and only on hackable hardware (mostly pre-2019 Switches).
- Outlook: a determined niche of Switch players can keep playing. Most owners will not — the bar is custom firmware, not just an APK install.
iOS
- Existing installs keep working — for now. Apple's policy lets delisted apps stay on devices and remain in the 'Purchased' tab, so users who downloaded Blades before delisting may still re-download.
- No way to redistribute. App Store binaries are FairPlay-encrypted; decryption requires a jailbroken device of the right iOS vintage. Without a clean .ipa, AltStore and Sideloadly cannot help.
- iOS keeps moving. Each major release narrows the device population that can still run a frozen 2024-era binary. Within a few cycles, 'still works on my iPhone' stops being true.
- VPN to a community server buys time, not survival. Once the install is wiped, the device upgrades past compatibility, or Bethesda pulls the listing entirely, that user is locked out — permanently.
Three converging conditions support preservation.
Three independent conditions — legal precedent, regulatory direction, and corporate stance — point toward a realistic path to preservation.
Bethesda tolerates fan revivals
After TES: Legends shut down in January 2025, fans launched "Legends Reborn" — a full server emulator project — and Bethesda has not intervened. The Skyblivion team was even invited to visit Bethesda HQ. This is a studio that culturally supports its modding and preservation community.
EU regulation is taking shape
The "Stop Killing Games" European Citizens' Initiative gathered 1.29 million validated signatures. The EU Commission must issue a formal reply by July 27, 2026 — just 27 days after Blades shuts down. Blades is a textbook case study for the initiative.
Microsoft's stance aligns with this
Phil Spencer has publicly advocated for game preservation through emulation: "Anybody should be able to buy any game, or own any game and continue to play." Microsoft is the most preservation-friendly of the big three platform holders.
Zero revenue risk
Blades generates no meaningful revenue. There is no announced successor. There is no cannibalization argument. Saying "yes" carries no revenue cost; saying "no" carries reputational cost during an industry-wide period of layoffs and studio closures.
The regulatory moment
The EU Commission hearing was held April 16, 2026. Director Giuseppe Abbamonte pledged to investigate copyright regulations affecting game preservation. California's Protect Our Games Act (AB 1921) would require publishers to provide an offline mode or full refund after server shutdowns. Blades shutting down during this regulatory window puts it at the centre of the conversation.
Why a publisher might engage.
Decisions inside a publisher are made on risk, cost, and benefit. The five points below frame preservation in those terms; the tiles that follow list the concrete returns of formal involvement.
"This costs you nothing meaningful and earns you goodwill."
The game generates no revenue. Community operation generates no liability if licensed properly. The only cost is legal review time for a license agreement. The return is positive press, community loyalty, and regulatory alignment — at low cost.
"The EU is moving toward making this mandatory."
The Stop Killing Games Commission response drops July 27, 2026 — 27 days after Blades shutdown. California's Protect Our Games Act would require exactly this: an offline mode or a refund. Acting ahead of regulation tends to be less costly than reacting after enforcement begins.
"You already tolerate this with Legends."
The Legends Reborn server emulator project has been running since early 2025 with no interference from Bethesda. Extending the same approach to Blades is just consistency — and a formal pattern reads more cleanly to regulators than informal non-enforcement.
"Phil Spencer's own words."
Microsoft’s gaming head has repeatedly spoken in favour of game preservation and emulation: "Anybody should be able to buy any game, or own any game and continue to play — that seems like a great North Star for us as an industry." Aligning internal decisions with public statements is basic corporate coherence. Blades is a chance to demonstrate the stance, not just state it.
"A clear positive press story is available."
"Bethesda partners with community to preserve Elder Scrolls: Blades" is a headline that costs little and generates goodwill during a period when the studio has faced layoffs, studio closures, and a long wait for TES VI. Keeping the broader fan community warm matters when your crown jewel is still years away.
What Bethesda gets in return
Beyond the community bearing operational cost, formal involvement produces several other concrete benefits.
Positive press
During a rough period of layoffs and studio closures, a preservation partnership is a free goodwill headline.
Regulatory alignment
Ahead of the EU Commission response and California legislation. Acting proactively is less costly than reacting later.
Precedent template
A reusable framework for future sunsets. TES: Castles is probably next. A proven community handoff model saves future legal work.
Community loyalty
Goodwill that transfers to TES VI. Keeping the broader fanbase warm matters when your crown jewel is still years away.
Zero ongoing cost
The community bears 100% of server, maintenance, and operational costs. Bethesda's total expense: one license review.
Defined footing
A formal license keeps preservation on a clear footing during a regulatory hearing, rather than emerging informally.
Five options, ranked by feasibility.
Five possible levels of involvement, from a final preservation build down to the default outcome where the community runs its own server. Listed for completeness — the simplest concrete technical request these options translate into is on the ask.
Release a final offline-capable build
Ask Bethesda to push one last client update that strips server dependency — baking essential server-side data (quests, items, town state) into the client. This is the "Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp" model: Nintendo released a standalone "Complete" version when Pocket Camp went offline. Requires some engineering work from Bethesda, but no ongoing cost or community trust issues.
Formal community server license
Grant a non-commercial license for the community to run its own game servers using reverse-engineered server code. Bethesda retains all IP rights. Community handles 100% of costs and operations. The Legends Reborn project is already doing this without permission — granting formal permission gives Bethesda a contractual framework while requiring no operational involvement.
Open-source the server code
Release the server-side code under a restrictive license (non-commercial, no sub-licensing, no derivative works beyond maintenance). The community maintains and operates it. This dramatically accelerates the emulation effort and positions Bethesda as a preservation leader.
Full IP handover
Transfer ownership of the Blades game and associated assets to the community organization. Listed for completeness but unlikely — the Elder Scrolls IP is far too valuable, and Microsoft would never allow any portion of it to leave their control, even for a dead mobile game.
Bethesda does nothing — community runs the server anyway
If no formal agreement is reached, this is what happens by default. The community spins up its own server using captured API traffic and a clean-room reimplementation, the same way Legends Reborn has been running since early 2025. Bethesda neither blocks nor endorses. This is the Legends Reborn precedent applied to Blades, and it requires no decision from anyone at Microsoft. It is also why the technical track on this site exists: even with no formal engagement, the lights stay on for Android — and for any iOS user who already has the app installed.
How to present ourselves.
A named legal entity is the practical prerequisite for any formal agreement — Bethesda's legal and community teams need someone with a registered form to address.
Recommended: Danish forening
Register as a Danish association (forening). Takes one day, costs nothing, gives you a legal entity for contract signing. No nonprofit overhead, no annual filings beyond a simple annual meeting.
- Project Lead / SpokespersonPublic face, Bethesda comms
- Community ManagerDiscord, recruitment, comms
- Technical LeadServer emulation, capture infra
- Legal / Industry ContactLicense negotiation, MEP liaison
Credibility checklist
Before approaching Bethesda, have these in place:
- ☐ Named organization with a website
- ☐ Documented community size (Discord, subreddit, signatories)
- ☐ Technical proof-of-concept (captured API traffic, early emulator work)
- ☐ Written proposal document (PDF, professional tone, no emotional appeals)
- ☐ Connection to SKG / regulatory context documented
- ☐ Draft license terms ready (shows you've thought about their concerns)
The shutdown window. Every week counts.
The outreach track and the technical track run in parallel. Neither waits for the other.
Outreach track
- Week 1–2 · NowStand up the organisationRegister forening, launch website, consolidate community on Discord. Document community size and engagement. Reach out to Legends Reborn team for guidance.
- Week 3–4Draft formal proposalWrite and design the proposal document. Contact Stop Killing Games for coordination. Reach out to Bethesda community team through official channels.
- Week 5–8Public outreachPress contact (Ars Technica, PC Gamer, Eurogamer). Social media. MEP outreach in Denmark and across the EU. Coordinate with SKG on Commission response messaging.
- Week 9–12Continue outreachContinue press and policy outreach if a response has not yet arrived. Have server emulator running regardless. Position for post-shutdown coverage.
Technical track
- Week 1–2 · NowCapture infrastructureDeploy VPN + mitmproxy capture platform. Begin collecting API traffic from volunteer players. Document every endpoint.
- Week 3–6Protocol mappingMap complete API surface: quest data, PvP matchmaking, town building, shop, account, leaderboards. Capture UDP traffic for PvP protocol analysis.
- Week 5–10Server emulator v0Begin building clean-room server implementation from captured traffic. Prioritize login, town loading, basic PvE quest completion.
- Week 10–12Community betaIf no Bethesda response: launch community server at basic functionality, demonstrating that the technical preservation path is viable.
How you can help
Right now this site is the technical track in motion: every player who connects via WireGuard records a piece of the API surface that the emulator will need. The outreach track needs people willing to write to Bethesda's community team, EU MEPs, gaming press, and coordinate with Stop Killing Games. If that's you, sign in and let us know.
This document is a living brief maintained by the Blades Preservation Project. Not affiliated with Bethesda Softworks, ZeniMax Media, or Microsoft Corporation. The Elder Scrolls is a trademark of ZeniMax Media Inc.