It’s been a whole seven years since Bethesda first teased it was working on a follow-up to one of the best-selling, most critically acclaimed RPGs of all time. Since then, we’ve barely heard anything about The Elder Scrolls 6, other than the fact it exists and that we’ll likely have to wait a long time until anyone can play it. In a recent interview with British GQ, Bethesda game director and executive producer Todd Howard, who is constantly badgered about the sequel, was careful to manage fan expectations regarding The Elder Scrolls 6. It still won’t be dropping anytime soon. But he did throw fans a few bones that help give a sense of how things are going for the fantasy series.
Howard revealed that, while hundreds of people are still working on quasi-MMO Fallout 76, The Elder Scrolls 6 is the “everyday thing,” development-wise. First revealed in 2018, fans haven’t seen much of The Elder Scrolls 6 beyond a single clip that’s been shared a million times. (The above screenshot is from The Elder Scrolls Online.) But it sounds like returning to Tamriel is Bethesda’s primary focus right now. The process is apparently far enough along that Bethesda did a “big play test” recently. The team took the opportunity to examine what was in the game, what it still needed, and where the development process is at, Howard says.
“Great games are played, not made,” Howard says. “The screen doesn’t lie.”
Generally speaking, big-budget games are taking longer and longer to make as studios expand the scope and polish for games meant to attract a mainstream audience. If you ask Howard, that wait is probably a good thing when it comes to The Elder Scrolls 6.
“I think it’s also good for an audience to have a break,” Howard said of The Elder Scrolls as a series. While he recognizes fans have been waiting for a long while already, he also notes that Bethesda is hoping to put together something that feels like more than a “plus one” sequel. The extended period between games might have been good for Bethesda, too. Or at least, Howard notes that Starfield gave the RPG-maker a much-needed “creative reset.”
Most of the interview is about Fallout series — to coincide with the recently-released Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition. But even when he’s discussing the post-apocalyptic series, fans might get a sense of what is going on behind-the-scenes when it comes to The Elder Scrolls 6 as well — so it’s worth reading in full.
