Eight years have passed since The Elder Scrolls 6 was first announced, and fans of Bethesda’s fantasy franchise might be in for a very long wait. In a new interview, Bethesda’s Todd Howard said that the company is in no rush to make the game, partly due to being in a position where it doesn’t need to make it yet. Thanks to its vast library of games and active players, Bethesda is able to focus on its current games, like the upcoming PS5 port of Starfield, alongside new updates for the sci-fi action-RPG.
“We also, again, have that benefit of having so many millions of people playing our other games that we’re actually trying to figure out how to serve those other audiences while we make a new one,” Howard said to GamesRadar. Earlier this week, Howard discussed the decision to announce The Elder Scrolls 6 at E3 2018, joking that fans should forget about that reveal entirely. That same showcase would also lift the veil on Starfield, which officially launched in 2023.
Howard also noted that since The Elder Scrolls 6 reveal, Bethesda has faced some big changes in the industry, such as continuing work during the middle of a global pandemic and Microsoft acquiring the studio as part of its ZeniMax purchase. In previous conversations, Howard has pondered if announcing The Elder Scrolls 6 so early was the right thing to do at the time, and details on the game are still a mystery.
One clue that Howard did give was that The Elder Scrolls 6 could hew closer to the classic style of Bethesda games, as he once described Fallout 76 and Starfield as “creative detours” for the company. Development on it is ongoing, and Howard added that the team has done a “much better job” on it so far, thanks to the experience the developers gained using Bethesda’s Creation Engine 2 to build Starfield.
The Elder Scrolls 6 isn’t the only project from Bethesda that’s been baking for years, as Fallout 5 was confirmed to be in development way back in 2022. Updates on it have also been hard to come by, but a former Bethesda developer said the studio might consider outsourcing production on it to another studio.
