Bethesda’s Todd Howard says The Elder Scrolls VI is still in the ‘design phase’

Bethesda Game Studios (BS) director Todd Howard is setting expectations straight regarding how much progress has been made on the developer’s next Elder Scrolls game.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Howard noted that, as expected, the “vast majority” of the BGS team is toiling away at Starfield, the studio’s first new IP in 25 years. The mysterious open-world sci-fi game was revealed in June 2018 and officially given a November 11th, 2022 release date and Xbox Series X/PC exclusivity earlier this month. The Elder Scrolls VI was revealed at the same time, although Bethesda has stressed that the focus is on Starfield releasing first.

That said, Howard says there’s a lot of project overlap at the studio. “Everybody works on everything so the projects [Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI] kind of intertwine.” To that point, the studio’s new Creation Engine 2 will be used to power both Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI.

“It’s good to think of The Elder Scrolls VI 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?’ said Howard. “Every game will have some new suites of technology so Elder Scrolls VI will have some additions on to Creation Engine 2 that that game is going to require.”

Given that Starfield is still almost a year-and-a-half away, it remains to be seen when The Elder Scrolls VI will ever come out. Further, questions remain about whether the game will be an Xbox/PC exclusive like Starfield.

In the meantime, though, Bethesda parent company Xbox is planning for a holiday 2021 lineup that includes Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5. The publisher’s first Xbox/PC exclusive Bethesda game, Dishonored developer Arkane’s Redfall, will follow in summer 2022.

Image credit: Bethesda

Source: The Telegraph