The Elder Scrolls 6 gets update from studio boss but gamers are frustrated | indy100

The official announcement of The Elder Scrolls VI

Bethesda

There's been an update on the progress on The Elder Scrolls 6 from studio boss Todd Howard but gamers continue to be left frustrated online.

The Elder Scrolls 6 is the latest upcoming mainline entry in The Elder Scrolls series. The sixth instalment in the hugely popular action role-playing game franchise, which has featured Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim, was confirmed to be in pre-production by Bethesda in 2018.

The studio said the game is due to release at some point after Starfield came out but that title released back in 2023 with still no official update on the timeline of The Elder Scrolls 6.

Speaking to Game Informer, Bethesda director and executive producer Todd Howard said everyone at the studio wishes it could go "a lot faster" too.

"It's [The Elder Scrolls 6] progressing really well," he said. "The majority of the studio's on The Elder Scrolls 6 but I’ll say this: we always overlap. So, we're very used to overlapping development.

"We have long pre-productions on things so that we feel good about them. And it's a process. We all wish it went a little bit faster - or a lot faster - but it's a process that we want to get right."

Emil Pagliarulo, studio design director, added: "We’re going to take our time and as long as it needs to be to be great."

from Fallout

These comments were reposted into the Fallout Subreddit, another Bethesda franchise, as gamers there are getting tired of the wait for a new Fallout as well as The Elder Scrolls.

A lot of the comments are more about Bethesda with the original poster (OP) saying: "Working on one game at a time with 200 people worked 20 years ago, nowadays it truly isn't feasible if you want to keep a fan base. Each game will have entirely different fan bases, one of these times people just won't care after so long."

And others have been commenting with their thoughts.

One said: "Many of the 'big' game companies development cycles are not feasible in the long run... Five-to-10 years, thousands of staff and billions of dollars to make a game that in the end MUST succeed or the company is bust. We used to have multiple iterations of a game series per console, now we don't even get one..."

A second commented: "Based on everything we know, The Elder Scrolls 6 has been in full development probably since mid 2023. That means it's only been two years of full development. What we don't know is to what extent the satellite studios do meaningful work on these games. If they're doing time intensive things such as the engine upgrade, maybe the game is two years out. That said, I think we are looking at 2027."

"A lot of the development cycle seems to be focused on remasters so I'd expect to see one of those every few years going forward," a third speculated. "Unfortunately Starfield being received as poorly as it was highly encourages remakes over anything new and potentially controversial."

A fourth said: "Skyrim and Fallout still sells remarkably well, Fallout 76 does good enough that they’re still pumping out content on a regular basis and they’re under the Daddy Microsoft umbrella now. Plus the Oblivion Remaster did pretty well too. Even if Starfield was less of a smash hit than they were hoping, and even if their next game is still years off, I doubt Bethesda is anywhere close to being in trouble."

And a fifth commented: "I was a preteen when Skyrim came out and I will be damn near 30 by the time we get The Elder Scrolls 6. I was a teenager for Fallout 4 and it's looking like I'll be mid-30s by Fallout 5. It simply isn't sustainable for a fan base. The fans are going to literally outgrow the games. We are rapidly approaching the reality where my kids will have to play Bethesda games in my stead."

Elsewhere from indy100:

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.