Confirmed Elder Scrolls 6 Upgrade Is Exactly What the RPG Needs

A recent update from Bethesda on The Elder Scrolls 6 is great news for RPG fans following the release of Starfield. The latter, the space-faring RPG from 2023, was far from a bad game. It is a good game, yet also a disappointing game. And it is a disappointing game because it’s not close to previous releases from Bethesda Game Studios in terms of quality and significance. Starfield coming up short compared to its predecessors is the result of more than one issue, but there’s no doubt that one of the factors was the technology behind the game holding it back.

For those that do not know, Starfield runs on Creation Engine 2, Bethesda Game Studios’ proprietary engine that it has always used. It is a very unique and great engine, but also an increasingly dated engine. This does not mean it should be abandoned, especially for a template engine like Unreal Engine 5. What it does mean is that it needs substantial upgrading and modernizing. According to Bethesda Game Studios director and boss, Todd Howard, this is exactly what the team is doing. More specifically, has been confirmed that The Elder Scrolls 6 is going to use Creation Engine 3, a brand new iteration of the engine which will power the RPG and future BGS games as well.

This Is Exactly What The Elder Scrolls 6 Needs

Whether Creation Engine 3 will be a meaningful upgrade or not remains to be seen. What is important is intention. Bethesda Game Studios could get The Elder Scrolls 6 out quicker and cheaper using Creation Engine 2, all while selling a boatload of copies. The fact that it’s going through the painful and expensive process of upgrading its proprietary engine — which is difficult to upgrade because there are naturally fewer programmers familiar with it — shows a true intention to get back to the top of the RPG world.

It is also reassuring news because the reports out of Bethesda Game Studios lately have not been good. And some of these reports have claimed that the studio has been coasting on its past success and perhaps, at times, has been immune to internal criticism and susceptible to complacency. And to be honest, it showed with Starfield, which should have marked a new era for the studio, but rather felt like a regression.

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If The Elder Scrolls 6 is going to be a landmark release like Skyrim, Oblivion, and Morrowind before it, Bethesda Game Studios needs to acknowledge that Starfield was a disappointment compared to these games and some of its previous work in Fallout as well. Whether this engine upgrade is a marker of this, only time will tell, but it’s an encouraging sign at the bare minimum.

No Unreal Engine For the Forseeable Future

This is also good news for what will come after The Elder Scrolls 6, whether that is Fallout 5, The Elder Scrolls 7, Starfield 2, or something new. If Bethesda Game Studios were going to make the switch to a template engine like Unreal Engine, it would have done so between Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6. Now, with this substantial investment into Creation Engine 3, it’s safe to assume this will be the engine for at least several games. If you aren’t a fan of this engine, this is bad news, but as someone who likes the engine and loves how unique it is, this is great news.

All of that said, and as always, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think, or join the conversation over on the ComicBook Forum.