At E3 this year Bethesda made plenty of exciting announcements. But one comment has got fans divided: the news that Elder Scrolls 6 is coming, but that it’s “a long way off”.
Amongst all the excitement of Bethesda’s E3 conference, an interview with chief game creator Todd Howard revealed that although the long-awaited Elder Scrolls 6 game will come to life, it won’t be for a few years yet, and there is no “official” date to expect it.
Todd insisted that they have two other major project announcements to make before The Elder Scolls 6 is revealed, and that what they are working on will include new-fangled technologies.
This has had loyal Elder Scrolls fans divided. From what I’ve witnessed on social media and comments sections, many fans are angry or disappointed that they’ll have to wait so long for a new title; after all, Skyrim was released in 2011.
My question to these “fans” is simply: why? How could you possibly be angry at such amazingly reliable developers?
I, myself, am one of the biggest fans of the Elder Scrolls series. I’ve been there since Morrowind, and Skyrim is one of my all-time favourite games, if not the favourite. I have been playing the out-of-date PS3 version for years and I’m still not bored of it. I cried actual tears when Bethesda announced a Skyrim remake on Monday.
But if you take Skyrim at face value, with no opinion of the game – even without knowing the game – anyone could see how incredibly innovative, intricate, and expansive the base game is. Not to mention the DLCs (the Dragonborn DLC is one of my favourite things about the game). The game is astoundingly massive for a reasonably early title, and before that Oblivion was too.
Bethesda have always made their mark in the gaming world by being one step ahead of everyone else. Their fan base is huge and they are constantly making an effort to satiate our hunger for new games, while also giving long-time fans stuff to enjoy.
At their legendary E3 conference (which I watched with a consistently dropped jaw), they announced a Prey remake, a Quake sequel, Fallout 4 and Fallout Shelter expansions, Bethesda VR with Doom and Fallout 4 to play on it, plus the updates to Elder Scrolls Online; including the Dark Brotherhood DLC and “One Tamriel”. They even gave the official announcement for their new strategy card game Elder Scrolls Legends in addition to giving us a good 20 minutes of Dishonoured 2 gameplay.
The sheer amount of new games, exciting updates and new expansions Bethesda have been working on for the past year alone just proves how hard they work to give every individual fan what the want and deserve. When I see people complain that the Elder Scrolls 6 is long overdue, I agree to an extent. Of course I want a new Elder Scrolls game; why wouldn’t I when they’ve done such a good job every time before?
But I also thoroughly realise that these things take time. Skyrim wasn’t born in a day, or even a year, and I’d be much happier if Bethesda take their time to develop a completely new way of gaming, like they have so many times before. I actually don’t want an Elder Scrolls game in a year, because then I’d know it was rushed and just there for the sake of public pressure.
I trust them. I’ve always trusted them. I trust them when they say they need to time to develop the game, I trust them when they say they don’t want to reveal the concepts, I trust them to keep it all secret and then blow our minds at E3 in a few years’ time, and I trust them wholeheartedly to bring us the sixth Elder Scrolls game and for it to be better than any of it’s predecessors; because that’s what Bethesda do.
So to anyone who is annoyed that they’ll have to wait a while before enjoying the next instalment in Tamriel, I’d suggest picking up a controller and playing the Skyrim remaster, Elder Scrolls Online, Dishonoured 2, Fallout 4, Bethesda VR, the Elder Scrolls Legends, or, of course, any of the other magnificent games they’ve given to us. I’m sure they’ll be more than good enough to pass the time and then the announcement of TES 6 will be here before we know it.
One thing’s for certain: I know it will be worth the wait.
