Elder Scrolls Online combat similar to Skyrim

PvP combat in upcoming MMO Elder Scrolls Online is 'similar mechanically' to Skyrim, according to game director Matt Firor.

The first open-ended multiplayer installment in the Elder Scrolls series is set for a release for PC and Mac sometime in 2013.

Firor said that a lot of features from Skyrim would make it into the online game, including the way melee combat works.

"[Combat] does work the same way mechanically in PvP as it does in PvE," Firor told the Guardian.

"So you swing with the left mouse and block with the right mouse, but there are a couple of new moves, like a really fast left click then right click will stun someone, plus things like double tapping a key to roll away.

"We're playing around with all of this now, but obviously with PvP we have to keep on testing and refining - and this will really be helped with the large number of testers we'll get in beta - that'll let us hone the system on a large scale."

Firor couldn't reveal a precise date for the beta, but he did tease that it would be in the near future.

"Very soon," he added. "One of the joys of making games like this is that they're on such a massive scale, you need to get a whole lot of players into them to kind of see where you are."

Firor has previously stated that Elder Scrolls Online could even be released for consoles in the future.