Todd Howard Has Some Mighty Confidence in Skyrim While Revealing His Elder Scrolls 6 Regret

There are tons of games in development that are on the list of most hyped titles, and The Elder Scrolls 6 has been at the top for quite some time now. Originally revealed way back in 2018 at E3. The Elder Scrolls 6 is Bethesda’s next big thing.

While Bethesda’s last project, Starfield, didn’t exactly shatter any records, the studio thinks The Elder Scrolls 6 will completely redefine the RPG genre. Even the game’s director, Todd Howard, believes the upcoming Elder Scrolls title will be something players will play for decades.

It’s been well over a decade since the release of Skyrim, the biggest title in The Elder Scrolls series, so it’s no surprise that players are excited to see what Bethesda plans for the sequel. There is a lot of pressure for the developers to follow up on one of the best games of all time, but Todd Howard believes they’ve got it all covered.

During Lex Fridman’s podcast, Howard discussed The Elder Scrolls 6 and the team’s approach to creating the game. He explained that the game’s development is taking a lot of time, and he “regrets” that Bethesda didn’t start working on the title earlier. The game director jokingly also said that if he could travel back in time, he would definitely not ignore the sixth title in the franchise for such a long time.

Howard knows that Skyrim is still Bethesda’s most-played title, even after a decade since its release. So, for developing the sixth game, the developers want to think about how they can craft a game that will make people return to it even 10-20 years after its release.

People are playing games for a long time, you know. Skyrim is 11 years old, still probably our most-played game, and so we don’t see it slowing down. And people will probably be playing it 10 years from now also.

Howard clarified that longevity doesn’t mean continued support for the game through fans and community mods. Bethesda wishes to create a huge amount for the base The Elder Scrolls 6 without needing any mods.

It’s clear that The Elder Scrolls 6 development has been taking a long time because Bethesda wants to ensure they do it right. As ambitious as their last project, Starfield, was, it didn’t meet the players’ expectations. Clearly, they don’t want a repeat of that, especially now that they’re under Mircosoft’s umbrella of studios.

The biggest question surrounding The Elder Scrolls 6 is when exactly we can expect it to release. Although there’s very little information about a potential release date, it’s already been confirmed that the game has entered into development.

Given what we already know about Bethesda’s development timeline for Starfield, which began in the latter half of 2017, at the earliest, and the game debuted in late 2023, it’s safe that The Elder Scrolls 6 won’t be out before 2028.

Following Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda in March 2021, there’s a high chance that The Elder Scrolls 6 will be an Xbox exclusive. This could force PS5 users to switch platforms or miss out on one of the biggest RPGs ever.