Kurt Kuhlmann worked at Bethesda Game Studios as a designer for two decades, during which time he was the co-lead designer on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, a game that could potentially go down in history as the studio's biggest hit ever. He was also known as the series "loremaster," and though he's no longer with Bethesda, in an interview with PC Gamer, Kuhlmann claims he was in line to lead up The Elder Scrolls VI, and if he had it his way, we'd be looking at a major Star Wars-inspired style of game for the long-awaited entry in the Elder Scrolls series.
Kuhlmann was never officially offered the job of lead designer on The Elder Scrolls VI, but according to him, Bethesda boss Todd Howard had verbally offered him the role following the completion of Skyrim. In fact, according to Kuhlmann, if not for Fallout 76 and Starfield, we would've gotten The Elder Scrolls VI a lot sooner.
"Of course, after Fallout 4 we didn't go to TES6, we made Fallout 76, and then even then we didn't make TES6, we made Starfield," said Kuhlmann, "which became this extremely long project compared to other ones. So from my point of view, I've been waiting like 11 years to be the lead on TES6."
"I was obviously one of the old-timers there and had a lot of experience. Bruce [Nesmith] and I had been the co-leads on Skyrim," Kuhlmann continued, "I think most people would call it a successful project, so I thought that it wasn't unreasonable for me to think that I could be a successful lead on TES6. It wasn't just my expectation—I had been told that that was going to happen. And they made the decision, no, you're not going to be the lead."
Not being given the lead was what stamped home the reality for Kuhlmann that "what I wanted and what he wanted were different at that point," when it finally came to pass that the studio would focus on The Elder Scrolls VI. That, alongside the fact that Bethesda had grown to a point where it functioned in a way that wasn't compatible with how he preferred to operate, contributed to his leaving in 2023.
But if he had been given the lead, and if he had it his way? The story we would've gotten in his version of the game would've been the "Empire Strikes Back" moment for The Elder Scrolls.
"I had in my mind that TES6 was going to be like The Empire Strikes Back," said Kuhlmann. By the end of it, the Thalmor, the elven supremacists who were on the fringes of Skyrim's story, would've seemed to have won, save for the player doing something at the very end of the story to leave a hopeful, cliffhanger ending that would lead into The Elder Scrolls VII. "So you've preserved hope for the future, but overall it looks like the Thalmor are on the march."
Kuhlmann admits that he doesn't believe his idea would've gone far with the rest of the team. Making a game is not like making a movie. After waiting more than a decade for The Elder Scrolls VI, if it ended with evil winning, and a cliffhanger for good potentially succeeding in the next game, which could very well be another decade away, players might not have appreciated it as much as Kuhlmann. "That's not a good way to end a game and say, yeah, we'll see you in 10, 15 years," Kuhlmann said.
Still, it's interesting to hear Kuhlmann's side of the story, and to hear a little more insight into The Elder Scrolls VI, which we've not seen hide nor hair of since its far-too-early reveal back in 2018. Now that Starfield is out of the way, at least we know the studio is working on it, as Todd Howard and other Bethesda executives can say nothing more than "it's going" and that the game is still "a long way off" when it comes to the game's development progress.
And while Kuhlmann may be right that players wouldn't have loved his Empire Strikes Back, the reality is that no matter what Bethesda does, it won't be able to live up to expectations, as former Bethesda artist Nate Purkeypile rightly calls the game a "no-win" situation.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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