My guess would be free to play with them trying to make money on microtransactions. The servers are probably shut down within two years after how hard this flopped.
I can't wrap my head around how a major publisher can release such an incomplete, horrific train wreck. In the modern gaming climate, they could have easily labelled it as "early access" or "beta" and released it at a discount to a more forgiving audience. But to release an unfinished, non-functional turd as a full retail release at full price? Bethesda deserves every bit of backlash they get.
I keep seeing the TV commercials for it and I wonder if they are already paid for of if they're still hoping to boost sales. The commercial looks 10x better than the game.
I'll buy a copy for 5 bucks just so I can take a diarrhea dump on it and throw it in a landfill where it belongs