The Elder Scrolls VI Is Still in a Design Phase, Todd Howard Says

Despite having been announced three years ago, The Elder Scrolls VI still hasn't gone past the design phase, according to Todd Howard.

[Jin_Sakai]

Should be ready by the time next gen Xbox releases.

[Sonic-and-Crash]

it will be released at the end of this generation......i even call that Starfield will also be delayed to 23...still both are promoted like they will be released next month by infuencers

[CaptainHenry916]

That's still a long time ⌛🤔

[Darkborn]

More like starfield got pushed forward. Remember that leak that said starfield wouldn't be ready till like 2024 and the elder scrolls 6 till 2028 or something. This studio takes ages to make games. I bet Phil Spencer said get it out now because we have no games. Without zenimax, they pretty much have no other releass except for forza and halo that got delayed.

[Eonjay]

@Darkborn

2028 tho? Not sure I would trust that leak. I mean come on.

[DOMination-]

@Darkborn

Xbox Game Studios will have released Grounded, Psychonauts 2, FH5, Halo Infinite and MS Flight Simulator by the end of year 1 of XSX/PS5 gen. By my reckoning, that's the exact same amount of games that PlayStation Studios will have published in the same time. And none of them are ZeniMax titles.

[IRetrouk]

👀
Spiderman remastered
Spiderman mm
Ratchet and clank
Returnal
Sackboy
Astrobot
Demons souls
NBA

And thats already released, not will have.....

Exact same number eh?

[DOMination-]

^ You know, thanks for that correction - I completely forgot about Astroboy and Sackboy so ignore my previous comment about same number of games published, I was wrong! (although I don't believe SIE have any more games now until Forbidden West?)

Lets not include remasters/next gen ports/optimised for etc. games though.

[FanboysKiller]

Lifetime releases, Todd Howard should be immortal.

[IRetrouk]

If we do that, my list get smaller, but your list goes to one...flight sim... games are games🤷‍♂️ it they are new, then they count to me.

[CrimsonWing69]

Lol, I was coming in here to say the same thing.

[Lore]

At least a game of this scale and magnitude is in development

[alb1899]

Will be busy with Starfield.

[thorstein]

By then, Bethesda will be independent again.

[FanboysKiller]

This gen won't get its own skyrim unfortunately, so disappointed.

[fitofficial]

Hopefully that design phase is "be more like Oblivion".

[arkard]

Judging by how Bethesda games have been trending, it will be even more accessible and less RPG stats and mechanics.

[Chriswheeler22]

You forgot MMO elements.

[CantThinkOfAUsername]

Todd already said Starfield will be 'Skyrim in Space.' The next Elder Scrolls will definitely be Skyrim 2.

I am yet to see a gaming company going back to its roots after watering down its games to be more accessible and hitting mainstream.

[Vegamyster]

Todd also stated:

"It's also a bit more hardcore of a roleplaying game than we've done," Howard said to The Telegraph. "It's got some really great character systems—choosing your background, things like that. We’re going back to some things that we used to do in games long ago that we felt have really let players express the character they want to be."

[neutralgamer1992]

Companies shouldn't be announcing games which are more than 18-24 months from release. Gamers shouldn't praise companies revealing logos or trailers

[Zhipp]

That's like SquEnix's entire MO. Though I guess they have been a bit better lately.

[Stanjara]

Those trailers are for the investors.

[tombfan]

Design phase means at least 3 years, lol.

[neutralgamer1992]

Atleast and that's if everything goes perfectly planned. During development things rarely go perfectly planned

[Cernunnos]

Probably 4-5

[NeoGamer232]

I find 18-24 months too far ahead. I think it should be 4-8 months.

1.5-2 years often leads to delays.

Forza Horizon 5 was a perfect example of a well-timed release trailer and gameplay.

[King_Noctis]

I mean people keep asking for a new Elder Scroll. And no matter what Bethesda does or says, people would still think and speculate that they are developing a new Elder Scroll anyway. So it is better for them to announce the game now so that fan stop their guessing and stop asking for it whenever Bethesda has a show or announcements to make.

[neutralgamer1992]

I think you are right when it comes to few big IP's fan demanding any announcements could become tedious. But now a days too many developers/publishers do it. We literally had obsidian make fun of the fact they have absolutely nothing already for the sequel of outer worlds yet we got an announcement anyway

[Seraphim]

I was surprised to see this revealed when it did. And here we are, what, 2 years later and the game is still in "design phase" GTFO.

you're absolutely correct. Companies should be announcing games 12-24 months out. Games that are already in development and look to be progressing to meet a time window. For several years it was starting to appear that companies were learning and only showing games that were in the foreseeable future. We've seen a shift in that as of late though. But to announce a game that's still in "design phase" a whopping 2 years after announcement is just asanine. It does no good for the game or gamers to announce a game that's 3-5+ years out.

[DOMination-]

I think in the case of TES6 they decided to announce it to set expectations. It was announced as being in pre-production and everyone knows its years away. I seem to recall years of speculation before F4 was officially unveiled, maybe Bethesda had a bad experience with that and thought it was better to have a more transparent roadmap.. Also it might mean that people focus more on Starfield instead of just shouting WHEN SKYRIM2.

I can't think of any other good reason why they'd announce something so early.

[Seraphim]

@DOM, I mean technically there was talk and rumors that ES6 was in development for, if I recall, about 2 years prior to the announcement; perhaps longer. But why even show a teaser shot? People will always speculate, question, etc, when it comes to a beloved franchise and developer & when a particular IP is being developed. That's just the nature of the internet world we now live in. Two years out and still in pre-production screams to me that work hadn't even begun when the game was announced. They should've let everyone speculate while stating we're hard at work on Starfield atm then shown ES6 once it's actually in production and coming along. 2 cents.

[-Foxtrot]

Sometimes I feel they announced this early because they knew the Fallout 76 announcement, from the same event, was not going to go down well.

[UltraNova]

Nail > head.

[Atom666]

??

Did you read Hines' comments in the article? He literally says this was the exact reason they announced it.

[-Foxtrot]

I wasn't really talking about the co-op vs single player side of it, it was more like "We know this game is unfinished, runs like shit and plays horribly so lets flash these games around so they have something to look forward to"

[BrainSyphoned]

Talking like you trust Pete Hines is so cute. And pathetic.

[Atom666]

I'm not privy to the insider knowledge you guys apparently possess. I just have to rely on my pathetic eyes and reading comprehension.

[Spenok]

No, that's not what he said. He specifically said they announced it because they wanted people to know they still make Single Player games. Not because they "knew" 76 was going to tank.

[Elda]

Guessing it won't be ready until this generation is over.

[Destiny1080]

its looking like 24/25 for the big comeback

[CaptainHenry916]

5 years when this game comes out. Better save up for the next Xbox and the rtx 5000 series

[SlothLordPootus]

All major game companies need to take a year or 2 break from announcing anything new, then we'll be back on track where they can reveal games 6-12 months ahead of time. Trust me, there's enough announcements from titles that ARE almost ready, to fill the void.

[Thundercat77]

Sounds like this game is not going to be available this generation.

[execution17]

Series x better be dirt cheap by the time this comes out

[Tacoboto]

Starfield and a Samsung 8K promo, bundled with an Xbox controller and a two week GPU voucher to use on that built in xCloud app.

They'll include one set of batteries for you to determine whether they go in the controller or the remote. And the GPU sub is only good for new members. #Deals

[DivineHand125]

I have a feeling they are holding off the next Elder scrolls because of Elder scrolls online. I've never played Elder Scrolls online but if it is very close to the traditional Elder scroll games, a next gen Elder Scrolls might cause people to quit.

[badz149]

maybe he should have told Phil Spencer about that, right? kinda ironic isn't it that the closes release they are going to do right after MS bought them is a PS5 exclusive while the one or 2 games they really want in their "exclusive" roster are over a year away (Starfield), in planning (ES6) or no news (Fallout, DIshonored, Doom etc.)?

I don't know but I feel like maybe MS should have waited a bit more to buy them. because let's real here, nobody else was going to or going to buy Bethesda, let alone the whole of Zenimax anytime soon. EA, Ubi, Activision are all almost equals which only leave Apple, Google, Amazon or FB as the only capable buyers. is MS afraid of these guys and thus shot first?

[IanTH]

I see what you mean, but the flip side of buying them now is that any game that is in the works, or is announced but hasn't had any platforms explicitly stated, they can make sure all those titles are only on the platforms they wish - ie not PlayStation - and ensure they don't waste too much time working on those versions as well.

Many dev studios under the ZeniMax umbrella make great games and have good track records. Sure, Bethesda has taken a bit of a hit in the overall gamer zeitgeist, but their games still sell *incredibly* well. And getting this purchase in now allowed them to keep Starfield, and likely ES6 as well, off PlayStation, and those are powerful names with wide appeal. I've no idea on how the finances will work out, but outside that? I get the appeal of picking them up now.

[sourOG]

Howard said he had time to write a few lines while he was putting Skyrim on Texas Instruments. You can’t rush greatness, he’ll get around to it.

[Brazz]

looks like a 2026 game, perhaps even later...

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

But guys, it’s gonna be FREE day ONE on Game Pass in 7 years, after you’ve spent $1260 on Game Pass at that point (7years X 12 months X $15/month).

I’ll hold off on game pass for the next seven years, and instead buy a XsXv2.5 just for ES6.

[rakentaja]

You can get 3 years of GPU for less than $ 150 (convert from Gold). After it expires do the same thing again. $ 300 = 6 years of GPU.

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

You can’t. I can’t even pay $5/month for Gold, they are closing loopholes for introductory offers just like Netflix. They don’t wanna sell a year for $50, they want to be able to raise the price to $20/month once they’re actually releasing games of their own again.

[rakentaja]

to MIDGETonSTILTS17:

The Gold conversion works, and everything you said about the price increase is an assumption, and it hasn't happened.

[CS7]

Or you could just subscribe when it comes out lol.

[chiefJohn117]

So you won't be buying games either for the next 7 years? Assuming you buy 4 games a year, that's $1680 ($60×4×7) and only 28 games. At least with game pass you would've played at least 84+ games. (1 game a month min)

If you play 2 gamepass games a month for the next 7 years that would average out to $7.5 a game. Less than 8 bucks a game.

[IRetrouk]

But who says the games on gamepass are gonna be the games you want? One isn't replaceable with the other, is it gonna save you some money? No doubt, but not to the extent your math makes out.

[chiefJohn117]

Hundreds of games on gamepass and plenty coming. If you can't find 1 game a month that you like youre not much of a gamer. EA games, MS games, main stream games, indie games. It has something for nearly everyone

[IRetrouk]

That's not the point I'm making at all, the games you want might not be in gamepass, you may have to buy more or less, regardless of the mix, your math is way off🤷‍♂️

[Tedakin]

Gonna be an amazing next gen Xbox launch title.

[Father__Merrin]

I predict 2024 for elder scrolls

[Soldierone]

It was such a dumb idea to get people all hype 3 years ago, then pretend it doesn't exist ever since. Clearly you know what people want, so put your resources there......

[Profchaos]

Why was this announced so early. I much preferred their fallout 4 approach big here's the game and by the way it's out in three months

[jBlakeeper]

I really don’t think we will see it this generation. Likely next. About 7-8 years from now.

[chicken_in_the_corn]

I thought they confirmed they wouldn't start development until after Starfield releases

[masterfox]

lol 5 years minimum 😅

[GameZenith]

"PS5 leaves the chat"

[anast]

The SX will be at a steep discount by then. Nice.

[Zhipp]

Considering how last gen pricing went I wouldn't be so sure.

[anast]

I suppose we will see how well my comment ages.

[TheTony316]

crossgen with SX and next gen box in 2028

[Bobertt]

Assuming they won't start full development until Starfield comes out and it takes at least 3 years to make a game of that size then i don't expect it before late 2025.

[BioShockGX]

Hopefully it doesn't look outdated when it releases lol

[Snakeeater25]

Rip fallout and Skyrim the ride was fun

[Drakul]

Why? Because of lame a%% Fallout 76 and TES Online, that is why!

[Spenok]

There's a reason I wrote an article on this when it was announced and titled it, "What the Fu#k Todd!?"

It was only in Pre-production THEN. F-ing stupid to announce it when it's not even at that stage, and made more annoying when you consider the years prior to that they would announce games and release them within a couple months.

**Our article**

http://coin-drop.com/elder-...

**Proof about Pre-Production**

https://www.google.com/amp/...

[FanboysKiller]

I measure my gaming PC build by titles, not by paper specs , specs ain't gonna do s for anyone.

[Parasyte]

So it’s at least 4 years away.

[MasterChief3624]

Really...

[akaFullMetal]

Going to be a long while till we actually see this game then.