In a recent interview with MinnMax, former Bethesda developer Bruce Nesmith—whose work as a systems designer can be seen in Starfield—revealed that the company made the decision to announce The Elder Scrolls 6 so early because “pitchforks and torches were out”.
Nesmith talks about how he shares a belief with Howard that games should typically be announced around six months before their release. “Todd [Howard’s] opinion – one which I share by the way – is that the videogame industry has short memories,” he says.
“Those companies that start touting their games years ahead of time, they screw themselves. The best time to start talking about it is six months before release.”
Nesmith goes on to talk about the decision to announce The Elder Scrolls 6 so far in advance. For context, the game was announced all the way back in 2018, and even earlier this year, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said that it was still more than five years away. According to Nesmith, the announcement was ultimately made in order to calm down fans of the series and the company.
“Only the fact that the pitchforks and torches were out got Todd to say ‘Yes we’re going to do Elder Scrolls 6, it’s for real it’ll happen.’” Nesmith said. “But I’m betting you don’t hear much in the way of details until six months before release, which is the way it should be. I think that’s the best approach and [Howard’s] proven that works really well, at least for Bethesda.”
While we don’t really have much in the way of details about The Elder Scrolls 6, Nesmith has stated that the game will feature the same leveling mechanics as its predecessor, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim.