Homestead, included free with ESO‘s next major game update, introduces the long-anticipated player housing system. It also includes furniture crafting and robust home decoration options. With nearly 40 unique homes to choose from and over 2,000 individual decorative and furniture options to make each home truly unique, Homestead will allow you to make Tamriel your own like never before.

You can begin your journey as a proud Tamriel homeowner when Homestead launches on PC/Mac, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 in February, 2017. If you play ESO on PC/Mac and would like to help us test Homestead, you’ll get your chance to join us on the ESO PTS (Public Test Server) in January.

Watch our Homestead first look trailer for a glimpse at some of the homes you’ll be able to own, and what you can do with them. (All the homes you see in this video were decorated entirely with the Housing Editor tools that you will have access to.)

Content

• Home Ownership in Tamriel
• Purchasing a Home
• Decorating & Furniture Crafting
• Additional Details

HOME OWNERSHIP IN TAMRIEL

Soon, owning your own little corner of Tamriel will be a reality. When Homestead launches in February 2017, you’ll have your pick from nearly 40 unique homes. After completing the Homestead tutorial quest, you’ll be given your first home: a modest room at a local inn. When you’re ready to expand, additional homes ranging from a cozy tree home in Greenshade to a charming villa in Malabal Tor to a sprawling manor estate in The Rift are available across Tamriel.

Homes are styled after the game’s 10 playable races, and they come in furnished or unfurnished versions. In general, you can purchase any homes you like, regardless of your character’s race or alliance. The exception is Imperial-style homes, purchase of which requires that you own the Imperial Edition of ESO (available as the “Digital Imperial Edition Upgrade” in the Crown Store for 2,100 crowns). Once you own the Imperial Edition of ESO, a character of any race can purchase an Imperial-style home. All the homes available when Homestead launches will be located in ESO‘s base zones – not in DLC zones – making it easy to find, purchase, and visit these locations from anywhere in Tamriel.

If you’re a hero struck with wanderlust, you’re in luck – you can own multiple homes, so you will always have a place to hang your hat. If you dream of eventually owning every available home, you can. All homes are account-based, so every one of your characters will have access to them once purchased.

PURCHASING A HOME

There are two different ways you can purchase homes in Homestead. After you complete the tutorial, nearly all additional homes will be available for purchase via in-game gold. All unfurnished homes that you can purchase for in-game gold will also be available for purchase with crowns. If you prefer your home to be move-in ready and decorated by some of Tamriel’s best interior designers, you can purchase the fully furnished version of any home in the Crown Store. You can move and replace all furnishings that are included with furnished homes as you wish, just like any other furnishing items. Later down the road, there will also be a few special properties that are exclusive to the Crown Store, including a luxurious island retreat.

If you want to purchase most unfurnished homes for gold, the local residents in that zone will ask that you prove yourself worthy to reside among them. No one wants an unhelpful neighbor, after all! By completing a specific achievement, you will earn their approval and unlock the ability to buy the associated home in that zone.

DECORATING & FURNITURE CRAFTING

No two player-decorated home interiors will be identical in Homestead. You can put your own personal touch on every home you own by crafting or buying furniture and decorations, and you can place them wherever you like with the game’s new Housing Editor. Some homes even have outdoor spaces that you can decorate! Let your imagination run free and create a place to call your own like no other in Tamriel.

Homestead introduces over 2,000 unique decorative and furniture items which you can use to personalize your homes. You can fill your home with furnishings that include (but are not limited to) tables and chairs, chests, armoires, beds, bars, and counters. Once your furniture is in place, you can put the finishing touches on your home with decorative items such as books, food, barrels, paintings, light fixtures, plants, trees, and more. Will you choose a Khajiiti-style home and fill it with Nibenese-style furniture? Or perhaps a Breton-style home with an eclectic combination of Argonian- and Bosmer-styled décor. The possibilities are limitless.

Furniture and decorative items can be crafted using the existing trade skills, purchased via gold from merchants throughout Tamriel, or bought with crowns in the Crown Store. Most decoration items will be available both in the Crown Store and via in-game merchants for gold.

If you’re an experienced adventurer, you’ll want to venture out after Homestead launches and collect prestigious trophies from Veteran Arenas, Dungeons, and Trials. Once earned, you’ll be able to proudly display these special monster-themed busts in your home as proof of your victories against some of Tamriel’s most difficult challenges.

Beyond normal furnishings you can get from the Home Goods Furnishers, you can further personalize your home with rare and unusual items from the Achievement and Luxury Furnishers, both new with Homestead. Achievement Furnishers stock special items that you can purchase after completing the associated achievements. These items are themed to that achievement, allowing you to add unusual items to your home that you’ve earned by adventuring and questing. (This is retroactive.) The Luxury Furnisher sells an exquisite and expensive collection of rotating premium goods for a very limited time.

You’ll also have the option of placing pets, mounts, and useful functional items in your homes, including Assistants, Crafting Stations, working light fixtures, and even Target Skeletons (with which you can practice combat and builds)!We even have a little something for diligent Mages Guild scholars: copies of Shalidor’s Library books, which can be placed as real books and read from your home, can be purchased from Mages Guild merchants after you’ve found and completed a set. (This is retroactive.) When Homestead launches, you’ll be able to craft, test class builds, host parties and roleplay gatherings, and more – all from the comfort and convenience of your own home.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

Early next year, you can expect to see detailed guides about the player housing system, Housing Editor, and furniture crafting before Homestead launches in February. In the meantime, here are a few additional tidbits:

• Houses are instanced, so you don’t have to worry about racing to grab the perfect spot of land
• Furniture you create via Furniture Crafting can be sold to other players
• You will be able to preview homes before you purchase, both furnished and unfurnished
• You will be able to allow friends and guildmates to visit your home; they can travel to your home via the group, friends, or guild lists while you’re in it, or by selecting “Visit House” by clicking on your name in those same lists when you’re offline
• You can grant trusted friends permission to decorate existing placed items in your home (they cannot add or remove items from your home)
• You can also allow those who are not on your friends list or in your guilds to visit and/or decorate your home by adding them as a “Visitor” or “Decorator” in your House Settings
• You’ll be able to conveniently fast travel to your homes via the World Map, similar to how Wayshrines currently work (but cost free), as well as directly via the Collections menu
• You can allow visitors into your new home – a visiting player simply needs to teleport to you
• Homes are secure – other players are not able to break into homes and steal items. Sorry, Thieves Guild!

With nearly 40 unique homes to choose from and over 2,000 individual furniture and decorative items with which to personalize your home, we can’t wait see what our creative community comes up with when Homestead launches in February. Where are you planning on putting down roots? How will you decorate your home? Do you plan on making a name for yourself as one of Tamriel’s top interior designers? We want to know! Share your thoughts and ideas with us on the official forums, Twitter, and Instagram using the #Homestead hashtag!