Written by: Emi
Bethesda is no stranger to controversy, and all the ire against them regarding Fallout 76 has pushed them into the forefront of reviled gaming commentary. (Feel free to head on over to Glyn’s post about Fallout 76 for his take, it’s wonderfully written and I share many of the same sentiments regarding the game). Because of all the negative press, and the horrible bag disaster and the awful $80 plastic bottle debacle, a lot of people are beginning to speculate about when this puts Elder Scrolls VI out for release.
I recently read an article, published on comicbook.com, about how the author thinks The Elder Scrolls VI will be launching sooner than expected. I’m here to offer the dissenting opinion and why, after the controversy, Bethesda will stay the course for shipment of future AAA titles they have in development.
“Crafty Todd got me again!”
Anyone who has followed Bethesda long enough, or obsessively enough, can pinpoint trends with certain accuracy, especially when trying to take into account Pete Hines and Todd Howard’s love of surprise. Simply put, when TESVI was teased at E3 2018, I was blown away, not only because of the beauty in the trailer, but I was not expecting that announcement until the Video Game Awards in December; all of my research on trends pointed me to believe so. Crafty Todd got me again! The one thing I’ve noticed with Bethesda, is that they certainly like to keep you on your toes. I’ve also noticed, that whenever Pete, and most notably Todd, take the stage, they talk about things deliberately, purposefully, and they leave hints scattered everywhere.
If you can recall, Todd Howard once again graced us with his presence on the stage at E3 (link for the full Bethesda press conference here, courtesy of Gamespot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZOfMttL_Io ). The first thing he talked about was Skyrim for Alexa. Cut to the funny joke we thought it was until it turned out to be real. Then, he spoke at length about Fallout 76. (Just as a side note, I replayed the part where the map was shown off and my prediction of Vault 76 being near Harper’s Ferry, WV was ABSOLUTELY right). The next game was Starfield. Being Bethesda’s first original IP in years was a huge announcement, but not much was said on it, nor have I really seen anything further on the development, other than subsequent interviews stating, it’s “very playable” and the game itself has “been thought about for a very long time.” Some people managed to dig up copyrighting dating back as far as 2013 for the game, which means its further along in development than TESVI is by a huge stretch.
The last game, and the crux of this article, was Elder Scrolls VI. Just a quick 30 second teaser, that show cased mountains and dusty valleys near a cragged shoreline, a massive crater just beyond the shoreline. It was a stunning render. I promptly lost my proverbial shit. That’s not an exaggeration, I really did; my brother and father were extremely worried about my sanity for a good 5 minutes and I managed to frighten both of my cats, their paws skittering and sliding across the floor. Of course, Bethesda is being tight lipped about this too. Not that I truly blame them. The brilliancy surrounding Elder Scrolls is that we don’t know much until the last possible moment. Several things have come out in post E3 interviews and tweets from various creative forces have shed some light. Jeremy Soule, composer for the last three Elder Scrolls games, came forward on Twitter last night stating that he was not currently working on VI. He went on to say that the composer for the delayed MOBA Elder Scrolls: Blades, Inon Zur (who also scored Dragon Age: Origins) and Brad Derrick, who scored ESO, could possibly score the new game.
Earlier today, on his public Facebook account, Soule admitted ESVI was still “a long ways out” and has publicly asked his fans to not petition for his involvement on VI, although he would absolutely love to come back and for fans to “keep an open mind”. Todd Howard had mentioned in one interview that they knew where the story was headed, and the trailer released reflects that. For me, the most logical place is Hammerfell for the story to continue. I give a brief summary in another article on my personal blog as to why I think that is (link here: https://thatnerdemi.wordpress.com/2018/08/06/hammerfell-bound-speculations-on-bethesda-studios-the-elder-scrolls-vi/ ) The crater on the left hand side of the trailer perfect fits with events that happened during and post TESII: Daggerfall. Combined with lore from Elder Scrolls Online, it’s not an unreasonable assumption. Please note that this is only my speculation, and not a given truth. *Assume nothing until Bethesda Studios gives an official statement.*
Now, given that the final leg of the E3 presentation was shown as Skyrim, an already published game, Fallout 76, a then unpublished title with a set launch date, Starfield, a new IP, and TESVI, I think we can safely deduct that Starfield will launch ahead of TESVI. Also keep in mind the years in between Morrowind and Oblivion, and Oblivion to Skyrim, remasters and re-releases notwithstanding. ESO and Zenimax Studios head game director, Matt Firor, seems to be in agreement with this, and has stated so in at least one interview. As stated earlier, Todd Howard is deliberate and he is sly. He knows how to hint and tease the games he makes, and he’s a master at his craft, much to fans delight and chagrin. He chose to debut these games a certain way and he’s chosen to leave us little breadcrumbs throughout interviews. The various interviews with people involved with the creative direction concerning Elder Scrolls and Bethesda titles corroborate this information.
My final opinion on this matter is that we have the potential to see Starfield launching in very late 2019 at the earliest, but a better prediction would be anytime during 2020. TESVI will be produced in, my earliest estimations, late 2021, and possibly early 2022, but I’m almost positive it will launch during the autumn months, September-November. Bethesda is pretty consistent on releasing their heavy hitting series titles during these months. No matter when it launches, we, the fans, await the release with eagerness, and I deeply implore Bethesda Studios to take all the time they need.
The Gaming TechLits 