Following Microsoft's flurry of expensive acquisitions, the gaming world is waiting with bated breath to see how the studio will perform under the giant's leadership. Bethesda is one of Microsoft's biggest purchases, and it has a few projects lined up. In addition to Starfield, which has been in the works for a long time, gamers can also look forward to a new Fallout game and a new The Elder Scrolls entry. With a new IP and two new entries in beloved franchises, it looks like the studio has busy times ahead.
Starfield will be the first to launch, followed by The Elder Scrolls 6 and finally Fallout 5. Although Starfield is scheduled for early 2023, the latter two projects are still years away. Due to Microsoft's acquisition, The Elder Scrolls and Fallout will likely follow Starfield's example and also be console exclusives.
Starfield
Perhaps the most anticipated game from Bethesda currently is Starfield. The game was officially revealed in 2018, and it has been in development since 2015. Gamers have been treated to various trailers showcasing the upcoming science fiction game, and while it certainly looks enthralling, its plot remains a mystery. It begins in the 24th century, a few years after the Colony War between two factions called the Freestar Collective and the United Colonies. Humans have found relative peace, and they inhabit a nook of the Milky Way known as the Settled Systems.
Todd Howard has stressed that the game will give players the freedom to carve out their own story. What faction they choose to side with and which planets they choose to explore will be entirely up to the player. Players will be able to craft their own characters, create their own spaceships to travel between planets, and establish outposts that acquire resources. The game will also pose many philosophical questions, including whether humans are alone in the universe. Though there has been no official word on whether intelligent aliens make an appearance in Starfield, some gamers have found clues in trailers that suggest it could be the case.
Starfield was scheduled for a November 11 release this year. This was a significant date, as it was the eleventh anniversary of Skyrim. Bethesda's plans were upended, and the game has been pushed back to 2022. This is the studio's first new IP in over two decades, so it will be an important one that will prove whether the studio is capable of branching beyond its flagship franchises. It will also be the first test of how well the studio works under Microsoft's leadership. The stakes are high, though gameplay trailers have revealed that something special is brewing.
The Elder Scrolls 6
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is one of the longest-enduring games, and it has enjoyed multiple re-releases. Fans will be happy to know that Bethesda does not plan to infinitely support the title and that a follow-up is in the works. The glimpse gamers got of it was in 2018 when the studio released a very short teaser revealing the game's title. According to Howard, the game is still in pre-production, which isn't surprising, as the studio is likely currently heavily focused on Starfield.
With the game still being so early in development, there aren't many details released yet. During Christmas 2020, the official The Elder Scrolls Twitter account posted a holiday message along with an image of a map of Hammerfell, which is the home of the Redguards. This has caused some fans to speculate that the upcoming game may be set in Hammerfell. Observant fans also noticed that the studio trademarked the term "redfall" which some have speculated may be related to The Elder Scrolls 6, but it was later discovered to be a game by Arkane Studios. The game currently has no release date, but fans shouldn't expect it anytime soon, as The Elder Scrolls 6 will likely be a large open-world game that will take time for developers to perfect.
Fallout 5
The last mainline entry in the Fallout series was Fallout 4 in 2015. Bethesda hasn't given up on the popular franchise just yet, and Howard has confirmed that Fallout 5 is on the way. With The Elder Scrolls 6, fans are lucky enough to at least have a trailer to gaze upon. With Fallout 5, there is nothing available yet. The wait for Fallout 5 will likely be an extremely long one. The studio is still busy with the mammoth game Starfield which features a thousand planets, and then it has The Elder Scrolls 6 lined up after that. Fallout 5 will only launch after The Elder Scrolls 6, which means that it is many, many years away.
Starfield is an Xbox console exclusive, which is to be expected following Microsoft's acquisition of the studio. Hence, gamers should expect the upcoming Fallout and The Elder Scrolls games will also be console-exclusive titles. The titles are also likely to appear on Game Pass at launch. Though Bethesda has never been strapped for money, being under Microsoft's umbrella could give the studio the financial freedom it needs to make its upcoming games the best it ever created.
Bethesda Softworks will also be publishing titles from other Microsoft studios in the coming years. This includes Redfall from Arkane Studios. It is a first-person open-world co-op game set in an island town plagued by vampires. It is set to release in the first half of 2023. Gamers can also look forward to Indiana Jones from Machine Games. Though the game has no release date, gamers got a brief tease in 2021, suggesting the game may be in the earliest stages of development.
Starfield is set to launch in 2023 on PC and Xbox Series X/S.