Very little was shown at E3 about Bethesda’s upcoming new IP; Starfield. The surprise announcement trailer was brief and rather vague, much like that for Elder Scrolls VI. Questions abound concerning Starfield, and Todd Howard may have answered one. His answer has a considerable knock-on effect for when we might see Elder Scrolls VI.
Starfield on Current-Generation Consoles?
While at E3, Todd Howard was asked whether Starfield would be coming to current-generation consoles. He could not confirm for sure, but did answer that it’s “not out of the question”. While there is little concrete information about the next console generation, most analysts would agree that they are likely to launch within the next few years. The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are nearing the end of their respective life-cycles as the current generation. While the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro have prolonged their lifespans, both Sony and Microsoft are doubtless working on new consoles.
“I’m gonna be honest, I don’t know the answer to that yet.” clarified Howard, “I can’t absolutely say yes… We’re not going to limit the game that way yet. I’m willing to, but it’s not a priority right now. I’d put it that way.”
Howard’s reticence to clarify the question suggests two possibilities; 1) that Bethesda and other development studios don’t know for sure when the next generation of consoles will actually launch, and/or 2) Starfield is still in the early stages of development and a release date hasn’t yet been set for it. In either case, Starfield is still years away from release.
The Elder Scrolls VI, on the other hand, has no such possibility. The game is almost certainly going to be next-gen only, as stated during E3. That means that it is far enough away that a new console generation will certainly launch before it does, and moreover, far enough away that Bethesda considers it worthwhile to skip the Xbox One/PS4 generation entirely. I.e. they assume that there will be a large enough audience on next-generation consoles to support the launch. Granted, this far away from release, a lot could change. Either way, both games are probably still years from release.