At E3 2018, Bethesda Game Studios revealed two games: the upcoming sci-fi RPG epic Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI. Five years later, game director Todd Howard admits the latter game may have been revealed way too early.
While Starfield’s release date is just around the corner, The Elder Scrolls VI isn’t expected to release until 2026 at the earliest. While not much is known about the game, it may be Todd Howard’s last Elder Scrolls project after guiding the franchise for decades.
In an interview with GQ, Howard explained that he’s been thinking about the 2018 reveal of The Elder Scrolls VI a lot over the past few years. Following a two-year delay for Starfield to fix bugs and improve visuals, the sixth mainline Elder Scrolls game was pushed back accordingly. But does Howard regret announcing the title so many years ago?
“I have asked myself that a lot," Howard told the outlet. "I don’t know. I probably would’ve announced it more casually."
The last Elder Scrolls game to suffer from such a delay past announcement was the series’ third title: Morrowind. Teased in 1998’s The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard, Morrowind wouldn’t be released until late 2002. Since then, Bethesda has typically revealed games close to release, such as Fallout 4 being officially announced just months before launch.
Nevertheless, with fans still excited to see what happens with Starfield, Bethesda games are still hotly anticipated titles. While Fallout 76 left a bad taste in many fans’ mouths, the excitement surrounding a new Bethesda RPG releasing is still at an all-time high.
Starfield is currently in the hands of reviewers and influencers at the time of writing. While knowledge of the game’s workings are still under heavy embargo, a number of leaks have proven controversial for the sci-fi RPG.
With leaks claiming you can’t dive underwater and that you can’t actually explore entire planets, the discourse surrounding the new Bethesda game is at an all-time high.
Starfield releases on Xbox Series and PC on September 6th, or September 1st for Deluxe Edition owners.