Bethesda Softworks’ next action role-playing game, The Elder Scrolls VI, is “still a long way off” from release.
During an interview with GQ Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard offered a glimpse into the progress of The Elder Scrolls VI, confirming that the long-awaited action role-playing game is still far from release. He revealed that while the studio continues to support Fallout 76 and “other things”, The Elder Scrolls VI remains its “everyday thing.” According to VGC, one of these other projects is a remaster of Fallout 3. Despite the game being in development for several years, he said that such projects take time. Reflecting on the challenges of long development cycles, he noted, “There’s an optimal point. At times, we’ve been way past that.”
The studio recently conducted a major play test of The Elder Scrolls VI, which Howard described as an important step in evaluating its current state. “You have to really look at the screen and say, ‘What is this? What does this need? Where are we at?’” he said. “Great games are played, not made. The screen doesn’t lie.” While that testing milestone may raise hopes, Howard tempered expectations by admitting the release is “still a long way off.”
Howard also shared an uplifting story from a recent partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. A group of devoted fans raised funds to have a custom character added to The Elder Scrolls VI in someone’s honor. “We spent an hour-and-a-half for them to tell us about their character, talk about the game, about why they love The Elder Scrolls, what they want to see from a new one… I think we’re aligned,” he said.
While Howard remained tight-lipped about the game’s specific features or setting, he hinted that Bethesda’s surprise release of Oblivion: Remastered earlier this year might have been a “test run” for a similar strategy. “My perfect version, and I’m not saying this is going to happen, is that it’s going to be a while and then, one day, the game will just appear.”
