While Bethesda saw a middling critical reception with the release of Starfield, development of the game still proved quite useful for the studio, since it led to quite a few lessons being learned for its work on The Elder Scrolls 6. Director Todd Howard has made a note of this in an interview with GamesRadar, where he revealed that Starfield helped teach the studio how it could better handle its in-house Creation Engine.
“I will say the way we approached the engine work – we’ve done a much better job of it this time,” he said. “With Starfield, it was made on Creative Engine 2, which was a big change from the original engine. We have Creation Engine 3 for Elder Scrolls 6. It started with 2.”
Making this jump from Creation Engine 2 to 3 hasn’t exactly been easy for Bethesda, however. He said that the whole process of upgrading the engine was “an upheaval for the team trying to make stuff,” and compared it with “just pulling the rug out,” from under the developers’ feet. “With Starfield, we pulled the rug out,” he said. “We were doing things in tandem with old and new.”
Ultimately, however, the studio is apparently feeling better than ever with regards to the development of The Elder Scrolls 6. “This wasn’t me saying it; everyone on the team was like, ‘We have to handle this engine updating and change much better so that we can be productive.’ And I’m giving the team an A+ there. We have handled that better than we ever have,” he said.
Howard went on to note that the developers working on the highly-anticipated RPG are “very happy where the tech is and where it’s going,” especially since “being able to develop while you’re changing your tech is a big trick.”
Howard has spoken about Creation Engine 3 and its use for The Elder Scrolls 6 in the past. Back in February, he spoke about the team being quite happy with development progress so far, and where it’s headed. “We have a style of game we really, really like, that people expect from us, and there is a lot of innovation to be done there still, so when you step into a world, you feel like you are experiencing it for the first time,” he said. “We’re happy with where [The Elder Scrolls 6] is headed right now.”
While development has seemingly been going quite smoothly, Howard has acknowledged the fact that The Elder Scrolls 6 may have been announced too soon. In an interview earlier this month, he said that fans of the franchise should probably forget that it was unveiled with teaser all the way back in June 2018. “Just pretend we didn’t announce it. Doesn’t exist. No one’s heard a word,” he said.
He went on to talk about how it can often be quite difficult for game companies to figure out the ideal time to unveil their project, while also making sure that they can sustain excitement for it over the several years that a title might take to develop.