Bethesda Reveals That They Have Already Chosen a Setting for Elder Scrolls VI
Bethesda finally announced the next entry in the Elder Scrolls series at E3 this year; the first core series RPG since The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim launched in 2011. After a seven-year absence, however, fans will have to wait a few more years before the game launches; both Fallout 76 and Starfield will be releasing first. The Elder Scrolls VI is already in development to some extent, however; in a recent interview, director Todd Howard stated that Bethesda had already chosen the Elder Scrolls VI setting.
The Elder Scrolls VI Setting
Speaking with Eurogamer at the annual Gamelab conference, Todd Howard was asked whether Bethesda had settled on a setting for The Elder Scrolls VI. When the announcement trailer was revealed, fans speculated wildly over the landscape which was briefly depicted; all trying to ascertain where the game might be set. One online troll even created a fake website called “www.theelderscrollsvihammerfell.com“.
“Yes,” replied Todd Howard, to the question posed; “a while ago.” His answer isn’t exactly surprising; Bethesda have had seven or more years to mull over idea for The Elder Scrolls VI setting. When asked whether fans might be able to work out which region it will be, Howard was more cagey; “I obviously would say yes, but you can’t – it’s intentionally… You can rule some things out. And you can rule some things in. The first thing we do is the world so we’ve known for a while where it’s set.”
When asked whether the region was actually Hammerfell, the prevailing theory from fans at present, he unsurprisingly refused to answer.
An Internal Debate
Howard also stated that there had been internal debate as to whether Bethesda should announce The Elder Scrolls VI at E3, given that the game would still be years away from release. “There were two things in our heads about that,” he said; “One, we’re going to E3 and showing a new Fallout game which is very different than we usually do, and then we’re going to show you an Elder Scrolls game that is very different than we would usually do, and if we leave it just at that, our fans are like, ‘… – Are you still going to do the things I love?'”
Fallout 76 and Elder Scrolls Blades are certainly different from Bethesda’s norm. Since the studio has already had to clarify to fans that Starfield and Elder Scrolls VI will be single-player RPGs, it seems to have been a wise decision. “It’s better to say we’re making it,” stated Howard; “It makes life a little bit easier for us. [If we didn’t] they would be disappointed and they’d still ask ‘What about Starfield?’ and ‘What about Elder Scrolls VI?’ But it’s also exciting! We’re excited; we want to share it with everybody.”