Elder Scrolls
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Elder Scrolls

The Elder Scrolls VI is an upcoming game in The Elder Scrolls franchise. It was announced at E3 2018 as being the next major project to be released by Bethesda Game Studios, after Starfield.[7] Microsoft's Phil Spencer stated that The Elder Scrolls VI is planned to be released on PC and Xbox systems,[5] but that a PlayStation release is also possible.[4]

Development

Early roadmap

On 9 August 2015,[8] Todd Howard stated in an interview with DualShockers that The Elder Scrolls VI was not coming for a "very long time."[9]

Pre-pre-production: 2016

At E3 2016, Todd Howard stated in an interview with Geoff Keighley, "Yes, of course we are [making Elder Scrolls 6]. It's something we love. But it is—I have to be careful what I say—it's a very long way off. […] it's something that's going to take a lot of time, what we have in mind for that game."[10] Howard also commented during the same E3 2016 interview, "We actually have two other large projects we're also doing that are bigger than anything we've done. People will probably hear about those even before Elder Scrolls VI."[10]

On 9 August 2016, Pete Hines stated that The Elder Scrolls VI "isn't in development," clarifying on 18 October 2016 that "nobody is working on it."[11] On 12 August, 2016, he said, "You're not going to be hearing first details on [Elder Scrolls 6] years before the game comes out, absolutely not."[12]

Pre-pre-production: 2017

At E3 2017, Pete Hines stated in an interview that The Elder Scrolls VI was "down the road." He continued, "To reiterate, they have at least two major titles that they are working on before we're gonna get to Elder Scrolls VI. […] We're pretty clear, TES VI is not in dev."[13]

Pre-production

On 10 June 2018, at E3 2018, the company released a teaser trailer for The Elder Scrolls VI. On 11 June 2018, Todd Howard noted in an interview that The Elder Scrolls VI is in "pre-production" and was not yet playable. He also said that the technology needed for the game is "getting closer."[14]

Pre-production: 2018

On 14 June 2018 at an interview with Rooster Teeth, Pete Hines stated that The Elder Scrolls VI will take place in Tamriel. He stated later in the interview that it would be released "longer than eventually," relative to Starfield being released "eventually."[6]

On 28 June 2018, Todd Howard stated in an interview at GameLab that the location of The Elder Scrolls VI had been decided upon "a while ago." When asked if it was possible to discern the location of the game from the teaser trailer shown at E3, Howard stated, "I obviously would say yes … You can rule some things out. And you can rule some things in. The first thing we do is the world so we've known for a while where it's set." [15]

On 8 October 2018 at an interview with Eurogamer, when asked about when fans would get more information about Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI, Pete Hines stated, "A while from now and a really long while from now! Respectively. […] the timeframe for Bethesda Game Studios titles has not changed at all. […] Timeframe-wise, it would still be about as long as you'd expect when you look at Fallout 3 to Skyrim to Fallout 4 to Fallout 76. It's still going to be those periods of time, that hasn't changed. Or at least, I don't think it will change from that based on what I know." [16]

Pre-production: 2019

On 29 March 2019 in a video celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Elder Scrolls series, Bethesda revealed that The Elder Scrolls VI would use photogrammetry technology to scan in real life objects and people to use as game assets. It was also revealed that the then-82-year-old gamer and Elder Scrolls fan Shirley Curry would be added to the game as an NPC using this technology.[17]

On 4 June 2019 in an interview with IGN, Todd Howard said about The Elder Scrolls VI, "I think everyone should be very patient […] The gap in between is obviously going to be long, it already is. On one hand, I think it's good to miss things. I think that makes people come to it with really, really fresh eyes. And I think when they eventually see the game and what we have in mind, they'll understand the gap more in terms of technology and what we want it to do. The one thing it does is people are still playing Skyrim, it's still one of the best-selling games. I know people joke about it online, but it's one of the best-selling games on Switch. Anything we put it out on, it becomes a hit game. And they love it, they still play it, it's almost infinitely playable, all of the mods and everything like that. And we're 8 years post-Skyrim. It lets us know going into Elder Scrolls 6 this is a game we need to design for people to play for a decade at least, at least."[18]

Pre-production: 2020

On 10 May 2020, Pete Hines stated on Twitter in response to a fan request for information about that game, "It’s after Starfield, which you pretty much know nothing about. So if you’re coming at me for details now and not years from now, I’m failing to properly manage your expectations."[3]

On 21 September 2020, in an address regarding Microsoft's acquisition of ZeniMax Media, Todd Howard stated that advances in computing power in consoles like the Xbox Series X/S "led to our largest engine overhaul since Oblivion, with all new technologies powering our first new IP in 25 years, Starfield, as well as The Elder Scrolls VI."[19]

Pre-production: 2021

On 13 June 2021, in an interview with The Washington Post, Todd Howard stated, "We took a good decade on Fallout, looking, listening to lots of takes and pitches. I think it’s about finding the right creative team. A lot of people want to do The Elder Scrolls as well, but that’s not something we’re doing right now."[2]

On 29 June 2021, in an interview with The Telegraph, Todd Howard stated, "The technology, Creation Engine 2, is sort of built for both [Starfield and TES VI]. It's like a new tech base. The vast majority of our development work is on Starfield right now but everybody works on everything so the projects kind of intertwine. It's good to think of The Elder Scrolls 6 as still being in a design [phase]… but we're checking the tech: 'Is this going to handle the things we want to do in that game?' Every game will have some new suites of technology so Elder Scrolls 6 will have some additions on to Creation Engine 2 that that game is going to require."[1][20]

On 9 November 2021, in an interview with IGN, the interviewer speculated that "it's going to be roughly, probably, 15 years between Elder Scrolls games," asking Howard whether The Elder Scrolls VI will be released around 2026. Howard responded, "People can do the math on what our schedules look like."[21] He also stated, "'Would you plan to have the kind of gap we're having between Skyrim and the follow-up?' I can't say that's a good thing. I wish I could wave a wand and the game that we want to make and we have in our head and we're starting things on just came out—absolutely. But there's other things we want to do. […] I'd like to find a way to accelerate what we do, but I can't really say today, or commit to anything, what's going to happen other than, 'Hey, our cadence is Starfield, then Elder Scrolls VI.' […] We're focused on one [game] at a time. Pre-production, for me, I like it to be two years. So you might have a small group on it and do something and say, 'Let's pause. Let's come back.' When we're really going full-bore, where most of the studio's on something, that could be anywhere from 12 months to 24 months. […] There's more overlap than, 'Do a game, stop, do a game….'" Asked about the technological leap between Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls VI, Howard said, "It's probably our biggest ever [jump]. […] We could really take advantage of the new systems: redoing the renderer and the basic underlying guts of the engine itself. […] Whenever you do an engine overhaul… we're still making data. We're still doing a lot of art and design and levels and spaces and things like that, and the engine is changing, and figuring out when those sync up is one of the great challenges that all developers deal with." [22]

On 15 November 2021, in an interview with GQ, Todd Howard stated, "We've been designing [The Elder Scrolls VI]."[5]

Pre-production: 2022

On 14 June 2022, in an interview with IGN, Todd Howard confirmed, "Yes, The Elder Scrolls VI is in pre-production."[23]

Pre-production and early development: 2023

The teaser trailer graphic for The Elder Scrolls VI was used alongside Starfield and Fallout's Vaultboy in a tweet advertising jobs for developers at Bethesda.[24]

On 15 June 2023, in an interview with IGN, Todd Howard once again confirmed The Elder Scrolls VI would be the next game the company develops, and that it would be designed with longevity in mind so that people can play it for years after release with long-term support. Howard said it represents the fantasy genre, where as Fallout offers post-apocalyptic aspects and Starfield is a science fiction game, and that The Elder Scrolls VI could potentially be his final game, but said anything after hasn't yet been decided.[25]

On June 23 2023, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer said, "As I said with Elder Scrolls 6, it’s so far out it’s hard to understand what the platforms will even be at this point. It’s the same team that’s finishing Starfield, which comes out this September. So we’re talking about it being likely five-plus years away." This leaves the game's fate on PlayStation systems undecided.[4]

During the FTC trial for acquiring Activision's Blizzard, a Microsoft lawyer mistakenly said "There are two Elder Scrolls games, one is online called Elder Scrolls Online — that is a multiplayer game, it is on PlayStation today. The game he’s talking about is Elder Scrolls 16... the projected release is 2026 as a single-player game. It is not anywhere similar to Call of Duty, which as you know is multiplayer and multi-platform."[26] This was likely the game's planned date prior to Starfield's delay.

On 29 August 2023, in an interview with Spanish outlet Vandal, Pete Hines said, "Let’s see, over time, but [The Elder Scrolls VI will be released] in years to come. […] We have made the focus of everything at all of our studios making [Starfield] the best it can possibly be. And yes, people are working on The Elder Scrolls 6, but this is what the studio is focusing on. So no, no time soon are you going to be hearing anything at all about The Elder Scrolls 6 […] It's in development, but it's in early development." (translated).[27][28]

Videos

Gallery

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 The Elder Scrolls 6 is Still in the 'Design Phase,' Todd Howard Says - IGN
  2. 2.0 2.1 'Starfield': Todd Howard discusses Bethesda’s new space-based RPG
  3. 3.0 3.1 Pete Hines on Twitter (10 May 2020)
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 IGN: The Elder Scrolls 6 Still 'Five+ Years Away', PlayStation Version Undecided
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 How Xbox outgrew the console: inside Phil Spencer’s multi-billion dollar gamble
  6. 6.0 6.1 Fallout 76: How to Play Solo + Changes to V.A.T.S. & S.P.E.C.I.A.L. + The Importance of Nukes
  7. #BE3 | 2018 Bethesda E3 Showcase - 6/10 at 6:30pm PT
  8. Wayback Machine: DualShockers
  9. It Will Be a "Very Long Time" Before we Hear About the Next Elder Scrolls Game; Team 100% Focused on Fallout 4
  10. 10.0 10.1 YouTube Live at E3 2016 - Full Livestream Archive
  11. Pete Hines on Twitter (18 October 2016)
  12. Bethesda: Elder Scrolls 6 won’t be revealed until it's ready to release
  13. YouTube Live at E3 2017: Day Two, PlayStation Press Conference, Ubisoft
  14. Todd Howard on YouTube Live at E3
  15. Yes, Todd Howard and team have settled on The Elder Scrolls 6's region
  16. Bethesda: Next gen consoles should be all about crossplay
  17. Celebrate 25 Years of The Elder Scrolls
  18. Todd Howard Talks Starfield, Elder Scrolls 6, Fallout 76, Terminator, and More! - IGN Unfiltered #43
  19. Todd Howard on Joining Xbox
  20. 'I first pitched the game to Lucas in 2009!' – Todd Howard talks Indiana Jones (and Elder Scrolls 6)
  21. Todd Howard on Skyrim's Legacy, Elder Scrolls 6, Starfield, and More! - IGN Unfiltered #61 (15:58)
  22. Todd Howard on Skyrim's Legacy, Elder Scrolls 6, Starfield, and More! - IGN Unfiltered #61 (16:56)
  23. Starfield: Developer Interview With Todd Howard | Summer of Gaming 2022
  24. Bethesda Game Studios on Twitter: "Come build worlds with us and join our team of talented developers. Apply today!"
  25. IGN: Starfield Interview: Todd Howard Answers All of Our Questions After the Xbox Games Showcase
  26. FTC v. Microsoft: all the news from the big Xbox courtroom battle - The Verge
  27. Vandal: Entrevista a Pete Hines: Las posibilidades de Starfield y el futuro de Bethesda
  28. TechRadar: Fans won't hear anything about The Elder Scrolls 6 for years, Pete Hines says
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