Given that The Elder Scrolls and Fallout developer Bethesda first announced The Elder Scrolls 6 eight years ago now and the fact it still doesn't have a release date, I'd forgive you for thinking that the game has been through a lot of tumultuous development at the studio.
However, according to Bethesda's game director and executive producer Todd Howard, the process of creating the next big Tamriel-based fantasy adventure has actually gone quite a bit smoother than development of the studio's latest title, 2023's Xbox and PC space exploration RPG Starfield (also on Xbox Game Pass, and coming soon to PS5 as well).
Specifically, while speaking with IGN in a new interview, Howard explained that Bethesda's move from Creation Engine 2 — Starfield's engine, and an upgraded version of the one used for Skyrim and Fallout 4 in its own right — to Creation Engine 3, the latest iteration of its proprietary tech, has proven to be a major boon for the company's workflow.
"But the one thing I'd say is really in the tech as we're going to Creation Engine 3. Again, the team has done a really incredible job at not just pushing what it is, but how it's integrated into our development cycle," said Howard, when asked about lessons learned from Starfield that Bethesda is applying to The Elder Scrolls 6. "So, you don't feel [issues in] what we're doing on a day-to-day basis, like when the game goes down. So, we're in a fortunate position where the builds of the game are really consistently working every day. Well, not every day, but we've had more days than we've ever had where the build is good, there's new stuff in it, and we can play it."
"And when you're making those kinds of technical changes as we talked about, often you're pulling the rug out from under the team who's making content. [You don't want] to be like, ‘Okay, that doesn't work for this period of time, you're going to have to wait until we get that working again.’ And we've done a really good job of managing that on this game," he added. "And with Starfield, we struggled there for a number of years in terms of when we went through the engine change."
But why, then, have we seen or heard next to nothing of The Elder Scrolls 6 for upwards of a decade after it was first announced at E3 2018? Well, many forget that Bethesda also revealed Starfield at the same time, and overall, it seems clear that the studio simply wanted to confirm the next The Elder Scrolls game would eventually come.
In the end, though, it seems all these years later, Howard actually regrets doing so. "Just pretend we didn't announce it. Doesn't exist," he said dismissively, of the reveal. "Nothing. I've never heard of it," he later jokingly added on the topic of the game itself.
Regardless, it's good to hear that the improvements made with Creation Engine 3 have made it easier for Bethesda to build the highly anticipated title without its developers stepping on each other's toes, which sounds like an issue it dealt with while making Starfield.
It's the first update on The Elder Scrolls 6's development we've gotten since Howard said "It's progressing really well" in December, and that "the majority of the studio's on VI." In November, he commented that it's still "a long ways off," so even though Bethesda is pleased with how things are coming along, you still shouldn't expect the game any time soon.
Notably, Howard's comments come on the same day as Xbox and Bethesda announced Starfield is getting a new Free Lanes update as well as a $10 Terran Armada story DLC (it's included in the Deluxe Edition, if you have it). Both are coming out on April 7, which is also the same time Starfield is arriving on PS5 (this was previously leaked, and is now confirmed).
🗨️ Are you hyped for The Elder Scrolls 6?
Hearing that Creation Engine 3 has made developing The Elder Scrolls 6 easier for Bethesda makes me more excited to eventually get my hands on it, even if it's still a long ways away.
How about you, though? Are you hyped to play The Elder Scrolls 6? Share your thoughts in the comments, and vote in our poll!
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