The Elder Scrolls 6’s Early Announcement Explained by Bethesda

Bethesda Game Studios satisfied many an erstwhile fan’s wish when it announced that The Elder Scrolls 6 was in development at E3 2018. Granted, the teaser showcased was little more than a fancy title but it was the highlight of the show for many.

Why did Bethesda choose to announce The Elder Scrolls 6 now, especially when it won’t be out until the “next generation”? Speaking to FZ.se, Bethesda’s VP of marketing Pete Hines said that ultimately, the decision was made to offer a better direction of where the studio was heading.

“A couple of years ago I talked to Todd [Howard] about clarifying with everybody that TES6 was not going to be our next game, and we had two other big games that we wanted to do first. So we had already put that out there several years ago, but we were very vague on what those other two titles were.

“So it was just in conversations with him [and] folks on my team to say, look, why don’t we consider putting out a little bit more of a roadmap for the studio that explains to folks, ‘Here’s what we’re doing—yes, we’re making this game called Starfield and here’s what it is, and yes, we’re going to make Elder Scrolls 6, but we have these other two games to develop and make first.’ It’s just so that folks have a better sense of where we are and where we’re headed.”

Of course, the fact that Bethesda was also announcing Fallout 76, an online-only experience, that prompted the early announcement. The company expected that players would “freak out a little bit” and wanted to reassure them that it’s still going to make strong single-player titles.

“[The announcement] also helps convince folks, like, look, this is not forever-more what we’re doing. We are going to do a game that’s just single-player next time around, and yes, we are going to get to Elder Scrolls 6. There’s going to be a long time before we’re ready to talk about what those are, because we want the time between when we start to talk about it and it comes out to not be two years long or three years long. But it just gives folks a better idea of where we’re headed and understanding what the studio is working on and trying to do.”

While even Starfield is a long way off (and may not necessarily release for this generation’s hardware as per Todd Howard), the studio’s commitment to its bread and butter is reassuring. Time will tell if The Elder Scrolls 6 lives up to the massive hype it will no doubt generate. Meanwhile, Fallout 76 will be out on November 14th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.