During an interview with Kinda Funny Games, Todd Howard gave Elder Scrolls fans a late Christmas gift in the form of a long-awaited update on The Elder Scrolls 6’s development progress. While this isn’t the game’s official release date, he promised a return to the classic Bethesda style that spawned all-time great RPGs like The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim.
A Return to Formula
If you’re a long-time Bethesda fan and have played a recent Bethesda title, you may have noticed something is fundamentally off with their core gameplay. Howard mentioned within this interview, “In some ways, in many ways, Fallout 76 and Starfield are a little bit of a creative detour from that kind of classic Elder Scrolls or Fallout game.” Fallout 76 was the biggest offender among the community for straying from Bethesda’s tried-and-true single-player experience and opting for an online multiplayer title. Starfield, on the other hand, felt like there was a lot of meat left on the bone, so to speak, regarding what levels of space exploration Bethesda can achieve.
“If you look at our games, we’ve sort of always evolved. We do have a certain style that we like, and our fans like, that we want to get better and better at,” said Howard. “As we come back to The Elder Scrolls 6, that we’re doing now, we’re coming back to that kind of classic style that we’ve missed and that we know really, really well,” he said.
Start Your Creation Engine
As it stands right now, Todd Howard revealed that most of his time is spent tending to The Elder Scrolls 6, along with a 250-person development team who had a hand in bringing Skyrim to life. Howard also indicated that the team had hit a “big milestone” in The Elder Scrolls 6’s development, but won’t spill the beans as to what exactly that milestone is. But he also revealed that the team “spent the last several years bringing Creation Engine 3, which powers Starfield, up to Creation Engine 3, that’s going to power The Elder Scrolls 6 and beyond.”
When Will See It Next?
While it has been a very long seven years since the first official announcement of The Elder Scrolls 6, updates around this title have been scarce. For now, the only bits we have to go off of are that it will release before Fallout 5 and that Bethesda held a playtest for it in late 2025. Todd Howard also stated that the game’s early reveal “wasn’t his choice” and that he prefers if we didn’t hear about the game at all and release it as a shadow drop, much like The Elder Scrolls Oblivion remaster. For now, all we can do as fans is remain patient for the first real taste of The Elder Scrolls 6, but as the days go on, that dream (for now) is far off.
