Elder Scrolls VI Update: Bethesda Confirms Active Development – What We Know So Far

Bethesda has been known to 'jump the gun' when it comes to announcing its upcoming titles. Starfield, for example, was a game we knew about for years before it released, and there's an argument to be made that it was to the game's detriment that we knew about it coming for so long. Now, the same could be happening with The Elder Scrolls VI, as Bethesda provided an update on the game's development in a recent interview that essentially amounts to the studio saying nothing more than it's still coming.

In a new interview with GameInformer, three lead members of Bethesda spoke about how things are going with The Elder Scrolls VI. Studio director Angela Browder, director and executive producer Todd Howard, and studio design director Emil Pagliarulo.

No one dared to suggest a release window of any sort, and all of them said some version of Howard's initial comment, which was that "It's progressing really well." Pagliarulo was perhaps the most blunt and furthest away from marketing-speak, as he said, "I can say that it's going!"

"It's funny, because the time pressure that players put on us, we don't put on ourselves," Pagliarulo continued. "And I know that can be frustrating for players who are dying to play a game. Games take a long time, and games get pushed all the time; GTA just got pushed again, which was the smartest thing they could do, because a game the size of these games they take not just a long time to make, but a long time spit and polish and iron out the bugs. And so, what do fans really want? Do they want a game that comes out before it should and doesn't meet their expectations? Or do they want the turkey that is in the oven for long enough to be delicious when it finally comes out of the oven, you know? That's what I think people are going to want. So, we're going to make our time and as long as it needs to be great."

Howard was much more succinct with his words. After saying that it is "progressing really well," he added, "the majority of the studio's on VI, but I'll say this: we always overlap. So, we're very used to overlapping development. And we have long pre-productions on things so that we feel good about them. And it's a process. We wish it went a little bit faster - or a lot faster - but it's a process that we want to get right."

Lastly, Browder added that they are "actively excited about what's in front of us," with how hardware and technology have improved since development on The Elder Scrolls VI first started, a comment that we've seen before regarding the game's protracted development. "The Elder Scrolls VI is this endless set of possibilities that is really, really exciting as a developer," Browder added.

Ultimately, it's good that the developers at Bethesda aren't putting a massive amount of pressure on themselves to try and get The Elder Scrolls VI done as soon as possible. No one does their best work if they're also always trying to think about getting their work done as fast as possible. Sometimes, you really do just need to sit with something and let it take as long as it takes before you end up in a good place.

That said, knowing that doesn't necessarily make the waiting easier for players. Even as Howard "preaches patience," the more the game sits in players minds as nothing but a short teaser that was shown to early, the more volatile its eventual launch will feel, which could be great for the game, or it could have the same impact it did with Starfield, where players are largely unimpressed with what Bethesda spent years toiling away on.

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