The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall is Bethesda Softworks' second Elder Scrolls game, released for MS-DOS in North America on 20 September 1996 and in the United Kingdom on 1 November 1996. It was directed by Julian LeFay, with Ted Peterson as lead designer. The project began as Mornhold, set in Morrowind.
Daggerfall is famous for its scale. Its world covers roughly 209,000 square kilometres, often compared to the size of Great Britain, with about 15,000 towns, villages and dungeons and around 750,000 non-player characters. It runs on the XnGine engine, after an earlier 2.5D raycasting engine was dropped during development, and the story has seven different endings.
In 2009 Bethesda made the game free for the series' 15th anniversary, and in 2022 it also became free on Steam. The fan project Daggerfall Unity, started in 2014, rebuilt the game on a modern engine and was declared complete on 31 December 2023.12
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | The Elder Scrolls II: DaggerfallCompleted 31 August 1996 | MS-DOS | Sep 20, 1996 | Bethesda Softworks | 1 |
| EU | The Elder Scrolls II: DaggerfallUnited Kingdom | MS-DOS | Nov 1, 1996 | Bethesda Softworks | 1 |
| WW | The Elder Scrolls II: DaggerfallMade free on Bethesda's website for the series' 15th anniversary | MS-DOS | 2009 | Bethesda Softworks | 1 |
| WW | The Elder Scrolls II: DaggerfallFree on Steam, runs via DOSBox | Windows | Apr 26, 2022 | Bethesda Softworks | 3 |
Also known as: Daggerfall WW1Mornhold NA2
Box art by region
NA The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: Wikipedia.
Version differences
-
Bug fix1996 retailpatched versions
The game shipped with many bugs and received several patches; fan quest-fix packs and installers later bundled the fixes for playing in DOSBox.1
Translations
Where to play legally today
-
GOG Free
-
Steam Free
How to run it today
Add the free Steam or GOG edition, which runs the DOS original in DOSBox. For a modern engine with bug fixes and mod support, the open-source Daggerfall Unity recreation uses the game's original data files.1
Reception
About 120,000 copies were shipped and more than 100,000 sold within two days; by mid-2000 Bethesda put sales at about 700,000. It won RPG of the year awards from PC Gamer US and Computer Gaming World, though its bugs drew complaints.1
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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