Responding to questions about the release date of the nextElder Scrollstitle, Pete Hines, the vice president of Bethesda Softworks, has reconfirmed that the studio’s development team has two major games planned before the release of theElder Scrolls 6.
Hines first stated as much during an interview at E3 in June of last year, when he was asked by the interviewer about Bethesda’s plans for theElder Scrollsseries. He responded to the question by stating that the nextElder Scrollswas not yet in development, as Bethesda had two major titles in development that would release before the studio set to work on the next entry in theElder Scrollsseries.
He also clarified that these two games were significant, independent titles, and not smaller projects likeFallout Shelter,although he also stated that he was not counting such other projects Bethesda may be working on. There has been speculation recently aboutupcoming mobile titlesfrom the studio.
In a follow-up tweet, Hines made clear to fans the distinction between Bethesda Softworks and Bethesda Game Studios. Recent games published by Bethesda, such asWolfenstein 2: The New ColossusandPrey, were not developed by Bethesda Game Studios.
Bethesda Game Studios, which is the company’s in-house development branch, is solely responsible for theElder ScrollsandFalloutseries, having developed every title for the two franchises since theElder Scrolls III: Morrowindin 2002, andFallout 3in 2008. Their most recent releases were theElder Scrolls 5: Skyrim VRandFallout 4 VR,both ofwhich released in December of last year.
Hines' clarification makes clear the fact that his previous comments about Bethesda having two major titles in development were specifically referring to Bethesda Game Studios. In the seven months since his interview, Bethesda has not announced any new projects or upcoming titles besides those that were already known at the time, such as the release ofSkyrimon the Nintendo Switch, and the studio’s foray into the VR market.
In fact, during that time, Hines madesimilar comments about “managing expectations.“That being the case, and considering Hines' new reiteration of his prior statements, it seems likely that these two new games are still a long way from being ready for release. As a result, it seems likely that theElder Scrolls 6will not be coming anytime soon.
In the meanwhile, someElder Scrollsfans have been taking matters into their own hands; a recent trailer showed offa fan-made expansion forSkyrim, though it doesn’t yet have a release date. Fans of Bethesda’s titles can, for now, only hope that news of the studio’s current projects will come sooner rather than later.
