The Elder Scrolls VI will feel more like Elder Scrolls than Starfield

[Daniel Sims]

Highly anticipated: Bethesda announced The Elder Scrolls VI seven years ago but has shared few details since about the follow-up to one of the most popular RPGs ever made. On a recent podcast, studio head Todd Howard discussed the sequel's underlying technology and design philosophy while also teasing an update for Starfield.

During a recent interview on the Kinda Funny Games podcast, Howard said the next Elder Scrolls installment will return to the open-world adventure that fans of the fantasy series and Fallout expect. He described Bethesda's most recent major releases, Starfield and Fallout 76, as creative detours.

Fallout 76's online-focused, live-service structure marked a significant departure from games such as Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 4, which were single-player adventures set in sprawling worlds filled with quests. Those titles carried the post-apocalyptic setting from Interplay's isometric RPGs into Bethesda's 3D framework, first established in The Elder Scrolls. Meanwhile, Starfield applied a similar formula to a space opera setting, sending players across hundreds of realistically scaled planets.

Howard said the traditional Elder Scrolls formula still leaves room for innovation. He confirmed that The Elder Scrolls VI will run on Creation Engine 3, the successor to Starfield's Creation Engine 2. Most of Bethesda's 500-person staff – including many who worked on Skyrim – is now focused on the project, though Howard cautioned that it is still "a while yet" from release.

In the meantime, Howard confirmed that new content for Starfield is coming soon. However, players shouldn't expect fundamental changes to the game. When Starfield launched in late 2023, it faced criticism for excessive loading screens, repetitive environments, and other issues. While subsequent updates added gameplay features, the game largely remains as it was at launch.

Howard said that players who enjoyed Starfield will likely appreciate the next update, though it probably won't win over those who bounced off the game. He declined to provide specifics, but said the update will introduce broad changes and make new use of outer space. The update, expected to coincide with the game's long-rumored PlayStation 5 port, is anticipated as part of the next major content cycle likely coming this year.

Later in the interview, the Bethesda chief also explained the studio's current position on generative AI. While The Elder Scrolls VI does not include any AI-generated content (yet), Bethesda is carefully observing the technology, as Howard noted its rapid evolution.

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The Elder Scrolls VI will feel more like Elder Scrolls than Starfield

 

[Billybobjoey]

Well gee Todd I sure would hope so.

 

[James321]

LOL... Sure ???

Same buggy engine ?

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Given that Todd lies constantly, we can rest assured that ES6 will feel much like starfield and be even more boring, somehow.

The people who led the charge with oblivion, Skyrim, and fallout 3 are mostly gone now.

 

[Eldrach]

Given that Todd lies constantly, we can rest assured that ES6 will feel much like starfield and be even more boring, somehow.

The people who led the charge with oblivion, Skyrim, and fallout 3 are mostly gone now.

Considering that they can employ people from the modding community, many which matched or even surpassed Bethesdas own work - I think they'll be fine.
The best part of Bethesdas games has always been the modding community anyways. Even they abandonded Starfield though, as the vast empty planetery system just couldn't be made interesting enough

 

[vicsrealms]

16x the bugs...I mean detail.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Considering that they can employ people from the modding community, many which matched or even surpassed Bethesdas own work - I think they'll be fine.
The best part of Bethesdas games has always been the modding community anyways. Even they abandonded Starfield though, as the vast empty planetery system just couldn't be made interesting enough

Any company can hire modders. That’s not some Bethesda superpower.

Actions speak loudest and we have consistently seen two things: one, bethesdas games have shaved off progressively more personality for 25 years now, with no signs of slowing down, and two, they will ignore community desires or content. The physics framerate bug is STILL in every Bethesda game since release despite modders having fixed it.

I’d highly recommend watching the video “starfield isn’t a real game” which has a whole section breaking down all the ways starfield has receded in quality from previous Bethesda games, and the consistent downward trend in quality.

Making a sandbox of Toledo modders can make their own game is not an excuse for morning a good game in the first place.

 

[yRaz]

I love people who hate on the creation engine. Yeah, it's buggy and it's janky but it adds FUN to the game. If you don't like the creation engine then you don't like Bethesda games, and that's perfectly OKAY. I, for one, know that the jank of the creation engine is what made Bethesda games so enjoyable and will happily enjoy their next janky title.

There was one bug tthat was so beloved that they actually PUT IT BACK in the game. Remember joining the Nordic space program when you met giants? They fixed it, fans complained and they put it back.

Remember everyone, games are meant for FUN. If your idea of fun is playing dark souls without taking any damage, that's fine. If your idea of fun is increasing your ranking on leader boards in an FPS, that's fine, too. Me, and apparently millions of other gamers, have fun from the emergent gameplay that comes from the Bethesda jank. I'll go exploring, the game will break in some ridiculous way that is more often than not, ****ing hilarious, and then going back to enjoying it.

There are already plenty of very refined RPGs out there. If you don't want jank and bugs, go play those. I would argue that there is a reason those games don't have the staying power that Bethesda games do.

It's not the leveling, the gameplay loop or the story that keeps people involved in Bethesda games, it's the "what the hell did I just see" moments where you step away for a moment and go get a drink. Then you talk about the ridiculous thing that happened to you with your friends and they tell you the ridiculous stuff that happened to them and you each try to recreate the absurdity

Bethesda games aren't games, they're a sandbox with a storyline

 

[FaTaL]

If creation engine 3 has eliminated 50% of its cache limitations (less loading screens), its a step in the right direction.

 

[mountains]

Mods, modders, and modding, are the lifeblood of Elder Scrolls. It is yet to be seen how that will carry forward in future titles.

Can you easily customize it? Do people WANT to customize it? That will determine it's long-term success or failure.

That is, when it gets released to our great-great grandchildren.

 

[Shear]

Starfield already felt very similar to Skyrim to me. The issue wasn’t familiarity, it was that the formula feels dated.

If Bethesda releases The Elder Scrolls VI and it’s essentially Skyrim again with better graphics, I don’t see how that’s meaningfully different from Ubisoft continuing long-running series like Assassin’s Creed.

If the takeaway is that Starfield failed because it wasn’t "Elder Scrolls-like" enough, that misses the real issue, players are reacting to a formula that hasn’t evolved.

 

[OortCloud]

I really thought Bethesda would do a No Mans Sky or Cyberpunk with Starfield and over the years turn the rather bland, empty and technically flawed game into something so much better, but that doesn't look like it will be the case. I think it's a huge mistake as the effort put into Starfield would eventually have reaped rewards had they continued to iterate on it and the money would have rolled in - just like it did for those other examples. I can't imagine the PS5 port is going to set the world alight in it's current form?