Elder Scrolls 6 Revealed Early to ‘Make Sure People Weren't Just P*ssed at Us’, Says Ex-Fallout Artist

The original announcement for The Elder Scrolls VI happened all the way back in 2018, when studio head Todd Howard took to the stage at the now defunct E3 to confirm that the storied RPG series was on the way back.

That was coming up on eight years ago, and we have seen nothing of the game since, leading many of the franchise's most enthusiastic fans to grow restless and upset at the perceived lack of progress.

Given that it has now been a decade and a half since we've had a mainline single-player entry in the series, it's difficult for Bethesda to push back in any meaningful way, and the game's early announcement seems like more and more of a mistake with each passing day.

Now, hindsight is obviously 20/20, but it seems like there are certainly some who are close to the developer who share the frustrations of the fans at home.

Former Bethesda Dev Shares Thoughts on Elder Scrolls Early Announcement

Bethesda Entertainment

In a conversation with ESI, former Bethesda lead artist Nathan Purkeypile shared his thoughts about the announcement of the game, and it's fair to say he thinks some mistakes were made.

"My assumption was always that we were announcing Starfield, and it had been so long already since Skyrim that we needed to make sure people were not just pissed at us. It’s a very expensive way to do that, though. Those trailers are not cheap," Purkeypile said.

"I would imagine that they will take a while to deliver it because there’s so much pressure behind that title, and I think it’s been proven with Starfield that they’re finally okay, actually delaying stuff. That was not really the case early on. On Skyrim, it was like, ‘It’s coming out on 11/11/11’ and we were like, what?! Oh boy, no pressure."

"I think there is less economic pressure to just get Elder Scrolls VI out on a date, but there is more economic pressure to actually make sure it’s good, and I think that’s a good thing. That’s healthy so long as they’re also honest with the team about that."

It's a totally fair point, and I think if Howard and the other leading figures at Bethesda had their time again, then they would likely have kept their cards close to their chest for a lot longer.

Here's hoping all of this is forgotten when the game does release, and we get the RPG that we have all been waiting for.