Fans of Maryland based Bethesda Softworks will hopefully not have to wait much longer to get their hands on the next title from the studio. Speaking at QuakeCon, Todd Howard, Executive Producer and Game Director at Bethesda, mentioned that the studio is making good progress with their next game:

"One thing I can say is that from when you first hear about it to when it's out will be the shortest it's been for us. It's pretty far along. When we show it, we want to show a lot, because there's a lot of game there to play right now."

Fallout 3, which addicted gamers with its great open world gameplay and story, was the last game developed by Bethesda. Announced in July 2004, the game did not hit shelves until October 2008. Before that came Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which was revealed in September 2004 and released in March 2006. Once this new game is announced, it will hopefully not take another two to four years until you can experience the game for yourself.

Howard also mentioned something that could explain how they are moving at a faster than usual pace in developing the new game: Bethesda is still using the same engine to power this new game that they used for their last few releases.

This may be a cause for worry for some gamers, as one concern about the upcoming Fallout: New Vegas is that the engine appears slightly dated. Howard even admitted at QuakeCon that they are unable to have ladders in their games because the engine can't handle them. Howard did mention that Bethesda is making some big changes to the engine, and we can hope that will alleviate some of the concerns:

"That's our starting point -- the Fallout 3 tech. It started with Morrowind, we went to Oblivion, we did a lot between Oblivion and Fallout 3 because now we had final hardware -- with Oblivion we had six months on final hardware, so Fallout 3 technically does a lot more than Oblivion. The new stuff is an even bigger jump from that."

While it has not been revealed what this game will be, many are hoping it will be the next game in The Elder Scrolls series. It could be a completely new IP, but I think with the fan base constantly asking for it, Bethesda would have to hate money to not give them The Elder Scrolls 5.

So Ranters, what are you thoughts on this? Do you want a another Elder Scrolls game, or something new?

Sources: Joystiq, Eurogamer, IGN