| The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Bethesda Game Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Bethesda Softworks |
| Series | The Elder Scrolls |
| Engine | Gamebryo |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows Xbox |
| Release | Microsoft WindowsXbox (GOTY Edition) |
| Genre(s) | Action role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon is the second expansion pack for the 2002 video game The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, developed by Bethesda Game Studios and released for Windows in 2003. The expansion was later released as part of the Morrowind: Game of the Year Edition for the Xbox in 2004. The expansion adds a landmass to the game, Solstheim, a setting modelled on Norse mythology. The primary questline of Bloodmoon involves the investigation of the Bloodmoon Prophecy that foretells the return of the demigod Hircine. A secondary features a new faction, the East Empire Company, which tasks the player to establish a mining colony. Bloodmoon also provides the player with the ability to become a werewolf, a feature closely embedded in the main storyline and quests. The expansion features more detailed environments, including weather shaders such as snowfall and blizzards.
Bloodmoon was developed over six months with a stated objective of making a more open-ended expansion focused on action and exploration, in contrast to the closed design of the previous expansion, The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal. Design of the game's questlines reflected a more open-ended ethos, with the use of branching questlines reflecting player choices. Upon release, Bloodmoon received positive reviews from critics, with praise directed to the expansion's highly distinctive visual design and landscape and the design of its branching questlines, particularly the East Empire Company questline, with criticism directed towards the limitations of gameplay when playing as a werewolf and various performance issues and bugs. Solstheim, the setting of Bloodmoon, would return as the primary setting for an Elder Scrolls game in Dragonborn, an expansion to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim released in 2012.