After much speculation, Bethesda have finally decided to confirm something that many of their fans have been suspecting for a long time – that the studio is indeed working on the next installment in the “Elder Scrolls” franchise. And no, it’s not a sequel to the somewhat failed MMO spin-off – we’re talking about the actual “The Elder Scrolls 6” here! But, as most are probably guessing, the game is still a long time away and most certainly won’t make it to the market during this year.
It only makes sense anyway, as Bethesda have been very busy with “Fallout 4” lately. The studio has been hard at work producing new DLC for the game, and even though the initial release was met with some skepticism by most fans, the additional content smoothed things out. The community is mostly happy with the current state of the game, and with rumors of even more content coming up in the near future, things couldn’t be better.
What exactly will “The Elder Scrolls 6” do for the franchise? That’s the big question on most fans’ minds, and there is no clear answer in sight. Realistically, there are multiple directions in which Bethesda could take the game, and they would all make sense given everything we’ve seen so far. On one hand, there are various rumors regarding the location of the next installment, and fans are still trying to figure out where exactly Bethesda want to take the story next. Some are even claiming that the game will be sub-titled “Skyrim 2”, continuing in the same location.
On the other hand, there is a lot that Bethesda can do to improve the gameplay of the series as a whole, especially on the combat side. “Fallout 4” was a clear example that there is a lot of potential for a good combat system in Bethesda’s games, and even though that particular game took things too far on the action side, the studio will surely have learned their lesson from that release and will be able to set things right with “The Elder Scrolls 6”.
Some fans have also been looking at other features from “Fallout 4” for inspiration and ideas for what they might expect in the next “Elder Scrolls”, and settlement building seems high up on that list. However, it’s a controversial topic in the community, as not everyone is convinced that it has a place in the “Elder Scrolls” franchise. Some fans see it as an unnecessary burden and something that would break the pace of the game, so it’s arguable whether it would be a good addition or not.
A good modding framework would definitely help things if Bethesda wanted to work on that. The studio has been making some interesting experiments with regards to modding lately, and they seem to have some ideas on their mind that could change the entire landscape of the modding community. It would be interesting to see if “The Elder Scrolls 6” puts some extra effort in this direction.
Last but not least, VR has been a hot topic in gaming lately, and it will likely continue to grow in popularity over the next few years too. It’s not out of the question that Bethesda might want to include something like that in the next “Elder Scrolls” game, especially if it’s coming in a couple of years. Things could change a lot until then, and VR could even become mainstream by that point, opening the doors to many interesting possibilities.