Todd Howard Says The Elder Scrolls 6 Is Still in the "Design Phase"

Talks about The Elder Scrolls 6 are often accompanied by disclaimers that predict the game's a long ways off, and it seems like that's still the case based on Todd Howard's most recent comments about the game. Howard, the director of Bethesda Games Studio, spoke about the new Elder Scrolls game recently in an interview where he said that the game was in the "design phase" at this moment and that the team has been "checking the tech" to see how its systems will be able to handle the new experience.

Howard spoke to The Telegraph about The Elder Scrolls 6, Starfield, the new Indiana Jones game, and a number of other topics in an interview. Conversations naturally addressed the state of The Elder Scrolls 6, a game that's highly anticipated and one that'll follow up Skyrim, but Howard expectedly could only say so much about the project. His comments appeared to be phrased so as to temper any expectations people might have for Bethesda to reveal anything substantial about the game in any short or even medium amount of time.

"It's good to think of The Elder Scrolls 6 as still being in a design [phase]… but we're checking the tech: 'Is this going to handle the things we want to do in that game?'" Howard said in the interview. "Every game will have some new suites of technology so Elder Scrolls 6 will have some additions on to Creation Engine 2 that that game is going to require."

With so little known about The Elder Scrolls 6 ever since it was announced, players have looked to snippets of the game's reveal cinematic and other details of the Elder Scrolls universe to try and decipher things like where the game might be set. The Elder Scrolls games are known well for their fantastical settings spread out throughout different regions and continents, so the setting of the next game will play a major part in the people, conflicts, and encounters players experience.

There's also the platform availability of The Elder Scrolls 6 to consider. Starfield, one of Bethesda's first major post-acquisition releases, will come only to PC and Xbox consoles when it launches. The same should be expected for the new Elder Scrolls game when it's released so as not to be disappointed when that announcement happens, but given how prolific the Elder Scrolls franchise is, there's always a chance that could change.