Summary
It might be hard to believe (or not, considering the typical development window of a Bethesda game), but it’s been just over 5 years since the initial reveal and announcement ofThe Elder Scrolls 6. Interestingly, the announcement ofThe Elder Scrolls 6came in conjunction with the reveal and announcement ofStarfield, and whileStarfield’s release has come and gone, fans don’t have much info to go on regarding the next installment in Bethesda’s open-world fantasy RPG saga. Looking back on the twin announcements of these games, Bethesda head Todd Howard is on record regretting announcingTES6when the company did, but it turns out that this announcement may have a silver lining.
Despite strong commercial success and a respectable critical reception,Starfieldcontinues to be a somewhat polarizing game. One of the primary concerns voiced by players who have a less-than-favorable impression of the title is that it relies too heavily on the design philosophy of the older Bethesda titles, erring on the side of caution in some ways while also buckling under the weight of its own ambition in others. Bythe timeThe Elder Scrolls 6releases, it will have been more than 15 years sinceSkyrim, and its early reveal means Bethesda has plenty of time to learn fromStarfield’s mixed reception to make it a worthy follow-up to one of the greatest RPGs ever made.
Bethesda’s Winning Formula Needs Refinement for The Elder Scrolls 6
Similar to how Ubisoft’s open-world formula has been applied to nearly every one of the franchises under the company’s umbrella, it’s safe to say that Bethesda Game Studios has a formula that the developer has been leaning heavily on since the release ofThe Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind. For its time,Morrowindwas an incredibly ambitious gamethat completely redefined what players expected out of a Western RPG, much in the same way that the originalBaldur’s Gatehad done years prior. SinceMorrowind, Bethesda has become one of the premier studios crafting open-world RPG experiences.
And while the affordances of modern PCs and consoles have made that trademark “Bethesda RPG” experience much more visually and technically impressive, the same core concepts still remain at the heart of each of the studios' games. At the time of its release,Skyrimwas practically a revelation and still stands as one of the best RPGs ever made, but there’s merit to the idea that, if it was released today, it might not have the same impact on the industry. Simply put, Bethesda’s winning formula is in need of some refinement ifThe Elder Scrolls 6is going to be a properfollow-up toSkyrim.
Starfieldis nothing if not ambitious, providing players with the largest open-world space that Bethesda has crafted to-date. However, that size and scope came at the cost of the carefully curated open-world sandbox that many players expected after playingSkyrimandFallout 3and4. Procedural generation has always been a part of Bethesda’s RPGs, but none have utilized it quite as prominently or in the same way asStarfield. If there’s one thing that the mixed player reception to the game proves, it’s thatThe Elder Scrolls 6needs to learn fromStarfieldand iterate on a decades-old design philosophy.
This iteration and refinement of the Bethesda formula is no easy task, as there’s a fine line to walk between innovation and improvement and attempting something too ambitious. Ultimately,The Elder Scrolls 6stands to benefit from thecomplaints players have aboutStarfield, potentially seeing Bethesda adopt a “back-to-basics” approach that has the studio playing to its strengths. Fans likely have several years beforeThe Elder Scrolls 6releases, and that extra time in the oven between announcement and launch may just be its saving grace.
