It has been over three years since the reveal of The Elder Scrolls 6 at E3 2018, yet fans still don't have another trailer to watch. Instead, hopeful players cling on to rumors, theories, and the occasional interview with someone in the industry. Recently, Todd Howard himself gave a small update about the game in an interview with The Telegraph, confirming the game's development status and a few new details about it that fans didn't know. Unfortunately, this news wasn't necessarily the greatest, and fans now feel even more certain that they won't see the next Elder Scrolls game for years to come.
Howard's interview comments were as much about The Elder Scrolls 6 as they were about Starfield, another upcoming Bethesda game. Both were revealed at the same time at E3 2018, but Starfield earned a headlining spot at E3 this year. Many fans don't think development will begin in earnest The Elder Scrolls 6 until after Starfield is finished.
The first thing that Howard mentions about The Elder Scrolls 6 in this interview is that it will use the same engine as Starfield. Dubbed the Creation Engine 2, this is to be the new technological base used for Bethesda games moving forward. For those that may not know, Bethesda has used the Creation Engine for Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76, so Creation Engine 2 will likely be a new and improved version of that. This should be refreshing for fans, as The Elder Scrolls 6 is going to need to bring something new to the table if it wants to perform like Skyrim did.
While the new engine is good news for The Elder Scrolls 6, what came next is far from it. Howard confirms that the game is still in its "design phase," as the primary focus at Bethesda at the moment is Starfield. He does go on to explain that since the Creation Engine 2 is being used for both Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6, work is technically being done on both games simultaneously, but it's still pretty clear that Starfield will come first.
Closing off his comments on The Elder Scrolls 6, Howard states that Creation Engine 2 will be updated with each new game to release on it, so there will still be some changes between what Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 run on. With all of that in mind, and knowing how long it takes for video games to be made, fans probably shouldn't expect to see The Elder Scrolls 6 completed any time soon.
The Elder Scrolls 6 is in development for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.