Fans have long waited for positive news surrounding The Elder Scrolls series, especially with The Elder Scrolls 6 still in development. Yet, as massive layoffs impact Bethesda and multiple Xbox owned studios, the state of this RPG franchise is in question more than ever. Recent comments from creators at Bethesda have only highlighted additional problems the development group faces, mainly surrounding the IP players want to hear about the most.
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Enough time has passed to see The Elder Scrolls be one of a few series that have skipped this console generation, if you don’t count The Elder Scrolls: Online and its multiple updates and expansions. When it comes to the mainline series, the re-releases of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim have grown comedic at this point, with The Elder Scrolls 6‘s constant limbo status also turning into a joke among players. With the changes at Xbox, this situation has turned, becoming somehow even less hopeful.
The Elder Scrolls 6 Remains Two To Three Years Away From Release Based On Recent Reports
During a Bloomberg Live Q&A, insider Jason Schreir stated that The Elder Scrolls 6 is still “two to three years away at least,” implying that the game won’t launch for quite some time. This is even without delays, which could put the RPG series’ next title four or five years from now, putting its release somewhere near 2030. Considering how the game was originally teased in 2018, generous release windows could see it finally get in the hands of players over 10 years since it first entered “development.”
Since The Elder Scrolls: Online came out in 2014, it’s been at least 12 years since any new games in the series, so this news of yet more time between projects is somewhat frustrating. Even though Bethesda has shared updates about the game’s progress, fans have little faith in the game moving past any significant milestones, as it hasn’t shown off cinematics, gameplay, or anything worth anticipating. Yet, while this situation with The Elder Scrolls 6 was already bad, Xbox’s decision to cut around 3,200+ jobs across various studios certainly hasn’t helped.
Xbox Layoffs Have Caused Several Bethesda Veterans To Leave During New Elder Scrolls Development
Five different studios were cut from Xbox entirely after the layoffs, with other internal groups connected to the company letting go of employees of all kinds. Teams like Id Software, the creators of the Doom series, are among the most notable due to some of their 20+ year veterans being among the victims of Xbox’s “restructure” incentive. Id Sofware’s losses include creators behind Id Tech, a pioneer in technology beyond just gaming. Similarly, innovators behind the western RPG genre from Bethesda have been let go, severely reducing the talent remaining at the studio.
Having a smaller team at Bethesda means harder work and longer hours for those who remain to focus their efforts on The Elder Scrolls 6. To put that level of pressure on a team whose help just got severely slashed makes matters worse, with the distance between The Elder Scrolls‘ latest game already showing signs of struggle in the past. Although Bethesda is not facing a risk of closure (like other studios Xbox has slashed), the larger industry impact creators there are facing put them in the most disadvantageous state possible for working on such a huge game.
Among the people who’ve jobs have been lost at Bethesda, one includes Christiane Meister, a 27 year Senior Character Artist for The Elder Scrolls series. This creator was responsible for the creation of the Khajiit and Argonian races in The Elder Scrolls, two of the biggest fan-favorite custom character options that have helped give the series its identity. The creation of innumerable art assets throughout The Elder Scrolls can be attributed to Christiane, from Morrowind to Skyrim. Losing someone like this may cause The Elder Scrolls to lose its unique visual approach, creating negative changes for any potential new title.
Fewer Resources & Greater Management Attention Could Spell Disaster For The Series’ Future
Xbox has stated that their gaming division will now have more focus on their ongoing series, such as The Elder Scrolls or Mojang’s Minecraft, but this might be bad news rather than good. Greater management meddling in The Elder Scrolls 6 could lead to more demands in its development, causing it to take longer to come out for starters. Down the line, the game may trade out creative innovations for safe services, such as live or ongoing features that turn the series into something it’s not. Microtransactions or unnecessary DLC could bog down an otherwise promising RPG rather quickly.
No matter how many resources Xbox pours into Bethesda, its smaller studio size will inevitably play a factor in The Elder Scrolls 6‘s development. 60-80+ hour work weeks and crunch could become unavoidable, possibly causing the game to release unfinished to fan backlash, much like Cyberpunk 2077 once did. The next title in The Elder Scrolls series will easily be a game fans have extremely high expectations for, which could create greater internal conflict for not only releasing the sequel fast, but also trying to make it too generic for multiple audiences.
The best case scenario for Bethesda could be that Xbox will now grant them a greater budget to develop a detailed, worthy successor to Skyrim like fans want. Realistically, the layoffs and delay for the series’ next big open world RPG put the studio is a bad position, made even worse by the loss of talent within their own ranks. With the news of how The Elder Scrolls 6 is further away than players were hoping too, there could be years of struggle ahead of Bethesda following every piece of internal strife.
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