Todd Howard Seems To Think Bethesda Announced The Elder Scrolls VI Too Early

Todd Howard, longtime director of huge open-world RPGs like Fallout 4 and the upcoming space adventure Starfield, appears to regret how Bethesda announced The Elder Scrolls VI, suggesting it should have revealed the game more “casually.”

Back during E3 2018—remember when we used to get actual E3 events?—Bethesda announced Starfield, its next enormous open-world RPG. But it also set aside a moment to reveal The Elder Scrolls VI, the long-awaited follow-up to its massively popular The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Five years later, Starfield is almost here, but the next Elder Scrolls game is nowhere to be found. In a new interview, Howard reveals that he’s been thinking a lot about how and when Bethesda announced the highly anticipated RPG. And looking back, he would have done things differently.

Talking to GQ ahead of Starfield’s September release, Howard was asked about Bethesda’s future after spending eight years working on Starfield. Specifically, the famous video game director was asked if he regrets announcing the next Elder Scrolls games so early, as it could take another four years before the game is actually released.

“I have asked myself that a lot. I don’t know,” admitted Howard. “I probably would’ve announced it more casually.”

When pushed to reveal anything about the future game, Howard was tightlipped, a sign of just how far away The Elder Scrolls VI still remains from launch in 2023. (Howard wouldn’t even reveal the game’s codename.)

“It’s like… I don’t want to answer, but I want to be polite,” Howard said after being asked for any details about the upcoming RPG. “I will say that we want it to fill that role of the ultimate fantasy-world simulator. And there are different ways to accomplish that given the time that has passed.”

Interestingly, Howard kind-of sort-of already did casually announce The Elder Scrolls VI back in 2016, two years before the game’s official teaser and E3 announcement. In an interview with Geoff Keighley back then, Howard confirmed that Bethesda was indeed going to make an Elder Scrolls VI, but warned it was “a very long way off.” He wasn’t joking!

As for Fallout 5, that’s coming too. Howard confirmed as much in a 2022 interview with IGN. But it won’t be out until after The Elder Scrolls VI. And considering how many years away that game likely is at this point, I’d not expect the new Fallout until sometime after 2032. At least you can play Starfield soon, when it launches on September 6 on Xbox Series X/S and PC.