The Elder Scrolls 6was announced years ago, and franchise fans don’t even know the game’s full title yet. Not only is Bethesda keeping details about the game under wraps, but there’s evidence to suggest that after all this time, there may not be all that much to keep hidden. If Bethesda is going to keep the reputation of its two major franchises in-tact,Fallout 5cannot make the same mistake.
Announcing the development ofFallout 5early could be tempting at a theoretically tumultuous time for the studio. Another early announcement could do more harm than good to Bethesda in the long-run.
RELATED:Fallout 76: Who is K.D. Inkwell?
Early Announcement of The Elder Scrolls 6
December 2020 was a glaring warning sign to RPG game development — hype may help boost a game’s pre-sales, but it risks devastating that game’s reception among fans and critics alike, if the final product is unable to live up to years of mounting expectations.Cyberpunk 2077, and the seven-year hype train that began with its 2013 reveal trailer, helped make it one of the most infamous releases of the last decade, and it’s clear that some major development studios took note.
Not one to miss an opportunity to poke fun, Bethesda’s rival in the first-person RPG market, Obsidian, released a revealtrailer forThe Outer Worlds 2that parodied early RPG announcements at E3 this year. “Will this creature be in the game?” said a dramatic voice over as the trailer panned up to a meticulously rendered alien monster. “No. Say goodbye to it forever […] Now we see our hero, but only their silhouette because the developers haven’t finished their design. Or finished the story. Or finished any gameplay that’s actually ready to show.”
StarfieldandThe Elder Scrolls 6were both announced at E3 2018, but after three years of radio silence, fans have only received one moreStarfieldtrailerand a behind-the-scenes look at the new IP’s development. Last month Todd Howard spoke briefly aboutThe Elder Scrolls 6in an interview with The Telegraph. Over three years after the nextElder Scrollsgame’s announcement, Bethesda’s director revealed that it was still “in the design phase.” It’s a broad comment that could mean anything from pre-production to finishing touches, but the choice of words was likely meant to temper expectations and to indicate that fans won’t be getting an update for another few years.
The Elder Scrolls 6’s Reveal and Potential Release Window
The early announcement ofThe Elder Scrolls 6has been met with some speculation. Many believe that the game was revealed at E3 2018 to deflect attention from the announcement ofFallout 76and any potential criticism the RPG series' transition to multiplayer could attract. Whatever the reason, it seems clear in retrospect thatThe Elder Scrolls 6can’t have been more than conceptually in development three years ago, and in 2021, it’s unclear how much major progress has been made. With Bethesda Game Studios focusing its efforts onStarfield, it seems unlikely thatThe Elder Scrolls 6’s development will really gain traction until after the new sci-fi game’s November 2022 release date.
On the one hand, the lack of updates sinceThe Elder Scrolls 6’s announcementis likely a good move, second only to not announcing it so early at all. If Bethesda had spent the last three years hinting at features to build hype aroundThe Elder Scrolls 6, it would likely be setting itself up for aCyberpunk-sized response. Nonetheless, the lack of news about the game since its reveal has certainly made some fans concerned about the future of the beloved fantasy series.
RELATED:Modders Looking to Turn Fallout: New Vegas into a Star Wars Game
The Future Of Fallout And Bethesda
There is a chance thatStarfieldwill not be the success Bethesda is hoping for, particularly as a brand-new IP and as Bethesda’s first Xbox exclusive. When another RPG giant, BioWare, was faced with the mixed reception ofMass Effect: Andromedaand poor reception ofAnthem, it turned back to its two major franchises. Marketing was focused on a newDragon AgeandMass Effectgame, that promised to bring back fan-favorite characters from the original trilogy. IfStarfieldhas a rocky launch, it’s possible Bethesda will make a similar move and announce anew singleplayerFalloutgameat a time when, likeThe Elder Scrolls 6, the game isn’t much more than a title.
Even in the worst case scenario, Bethesda needs to avoid early announcement. The reception ofFallout 76may have hurt the studio’s reputation, but the extremely early announcement ofThe Elder Scrolls 6has fueled impatience among some fans. That impatience was only exacerbated by the lack of news at E3 2021, and the announcement ofStarfield’s exclusivity. The latter even led to an embarrassing situation where Bethesda’s marketing bossPeter Hines apologized to PS5 owners.
Bethesda is going through a period of significant change. Like all major studios, it has a new console generation to contend with. The acquisition of Bethesda’s parent companyZeniMax Media by Microsoftpresents new opportunities, but as the exclusivity controversy shows, new risks. With no futureFalloutgames in sight, the iconic dystopian franchise has the potential to be an ace up Bethesda’s sleeve in case of emergency.
AlthoughStarfield’s exclusivityhas disappointed some fans, there is one part of the new game’s marketing that Bethesda got right. The studio held off on revealing any major details about the game until just over a year before its release, giving its development timeline a decently wide berth without making fans face yet another multi-year wait. The future of theFalloutfranchise remains unclear, but if Bethesda is going to keep its reputation in-tact at a turbulent time, it should stay that way until the studio has something to show.
Fallout 5is not confirmed to be in development.
MORE:Xbox and Bethesda Donate to Humane Society in Honor of Fallout 4’s Dogmeat
