Bethesda Shifting Focus On The Elder Scrolls VI Release

The Elder Scrolls VI was first announced at Bethesda's E3 2018 show, which was almost seven years ago. Since then, there hasn't been much news about the highly anticipated RPG. Now that Starfield is out and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered has surprised fans with how well it did at launch, the focus is once again on Bethesda Game Studios' next big project.

Bethesda has kept The Elder Scrolls VI a secret ever since the first teaser trailer came out in 2018. The studio continued working on Starfield, which was released in 2023. Once Starfield was over, Todd Howard and his team turned all of their attention to making Elder Scrolls VI.

Even though the next Elder Scrolls game was supposed to come out in 2018, real work on it didn't start until after Starfield came out. This means that work on the game has been going on for about one and a half to two years. The long wait is because Bethesda only works on one big RPG at a time, but fans are hoping that this year's Xbox Game Showcase will finally bring a new teaser or at least an update.

By surprising everyone with its popularity, Oblivion Remastered has sent Bethesda a clear message: players want RPGs with deep stories and complicated systems. There have been new comparisons between Oblivion and Skyrim. Both fans and critics agree that Skyrim had better combat and exploration, but Oblivion had better writing, quest design, and character development, making it a better role-playing game.

This newfound love for the old formula could be crucial in making The Elder Scrolls VI what it is. Modern RPGs like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Baldur's Gate 3, and The Witcher 3 have set high standards, so Bethesda has to come up with new ideas while staying true to its roots.

Setting is one of the most important things to know about The Elder Scrolls VI. In December 2020, Bethesda posted a teaser showing a map of Skyrim with the words "Transcribe the past and map the future." Three strategically placed candles on the map led people to think that the game would take place in Hammerfell or High Rock, two nearby areas west of Skyrim.

The first trailer for the game, released in 2018, showed rough mountainous terrain that looked more like High Rock's landscapes than Hammerfell's deserts. Many people think, though, that the game will include both regions. Hammerfell is often mistakenly thought to be only a desert, but it has a variety of biomes, including jungles, mountain ranges, grasslands, and swamps, offering players a range of different places to explore.

Open worlds that were all made by hand are something that people really want in Elder Scrolls VI. In recent years, procedural generation has made significant progress. However, Bethesda's heavy use of it in Starfield made many players feel like the worlds were boring and repetitive. People are urging the company to return to the carefully designed worlds that made Skyrim and Oblivion what they were—places like Riverwood and Whiterun, which felt unique and important.

Fans hope Elder Scrolls VI will bring back that feeling of discovery by creating towns, dungeons, interesting places to visit, and stories that encourage exploration and help players make memories that will last a lifetime.

Another worry is how The Elder Scrolls VI will handle player choices and factions. In previous Elder Scrolls games, famous groups like the Dark Brotherhood, the Thieves Guild, and the Fighters Guild were present, but they didn't always have a big effect on the story. Some reviewers say that faction quests didn't always feel like they belonged to the main story or bigger events in the world.

More and more people want Bethesda to add a more dynamic faction system where choices have real effects. Whether you join or betray a faction can change the main plot, impact regional politics, and alter the world in more meaningful ways, similar to what modern RPGs have successfully done.

Bethesda is now putting all of their attention on Elder Scrolls VI since Starfield is now finished. There may still be a few years before the game comes out, but the Xbox Game Showcase this year could give us our first good look at it since 2018. But don't get too excited—if Bethesda does show anything, it might just be a short cinematic teaser or a quick look inside the engine, not a full gameplay reveal.

If everything goes as planned, the official reveal could happen in late 2025 or early 2026, and the release date could be in 2027 or early 2028. Todd Howard has hinted that The Elder Scrolls VI will be the studio's next big project after Starfield, but he has also said that it will still take years to make.

The Elder Scrolls VI is at a crucial crossroads due to the success of Oblivion Remastered, the lessons learned from Starfield, and the impact of new RPGs. Bethesda has the chance to create a groundbreaking fantasy RPG that not only meets but also exceeds the high standards of its fans worldwide. While we wait, we're really hoping that the next trip through Tamriel will be the most interesting and memorable one yet.