Bethesda Dev Reveals Reason Behind The Elder Scrolls 6 Being Announced So Early

A former developer at Bethesda has revealed why those at the publisher chose to announce The Elder Scrolls VI so far in advance. All the way back in 2018, Bethesda informed fans that its next two games would end up being Starfield followed by The Elder Scrolls VI. Over five years later, Starfield has only just released this past month, which means that The Elder Scrolls VI is still many years down the road. Now, the reason behind this decision has been further contextualized. 

Speaking to MinnMax, former Bethesda Game Studios designer Bruce Nesmith opened up about why The Elder Scrolls VI was revealed roughly a decade before its eventual release. Nesmith, who left Bethesda back in 2021, attributed the announcement to the notion that many fans have short-term memories when it comes to games. Specifically, Nesmith said that many were coming at Bethesda with "pitchforks and torches" demanding to see The Elder Scrolls 6 announced. In the end, director Todd Howard chose to reveal the project simply to acknowledge fans and make it clear that the game was coming. 

"[Bethesda] took years of hits for not talking about The Elder Scrolls 6," Nesmith said. "Todd [Howard's] opinion – one which I share by the way – is that the video game industry has short memories. Those companies that start touting their games years ahead of time, they screw themselves. The best time to start talking about it is six months before release."

"Only the fact that the pitchforks and torches were out got Todd to say, 'Yes, we're going to do The Elder Scrolls 6, it's for real, it'll happen. But I'm betting you won't hear much in the way of details until six months before release, which is the way it should be. I think that's the best approach and [Howard's] proven that works really well, at least for Bethesda."  

The Elder Scrolls 6 Release Window

Even though The Elder Scrolls VI was revealed over five years ago, it's likely that the next RPG from Bethesda won't release for a few more years. Recent rumors have claimed that Bethesda is targeting a 2026 launch window for now, but this estimate might be a generous one. Additionally, Bethesda has since been purchased by Xbox and Microsoft since originally teasing The Elder Scrolls VI, which means that the next entry in the series is probably only coming to Xbox and PC platforms. 

As Nesmith himself notes, though, it's likely that Bethesda won't choose to talk much about The Elder Scrolls VI until it is very close to its release. With Starfield, Bethesda didn't really begin highlighting more of what its spacefaring RPG would be capable of until this past summer. So even if we do begin to get more details about The Elder Scrolls VI in the months ahead, be prepared to wait quite a bit longer when it comes to seeing the game in action. 

[H/T PCGamesN]