We already know the answer to one of the biggest questions in the gaming industry right now – “Elder Scrolls 6” is indeed being worked on, and is not just a gamer’s pipe dream. At the same time, the last official statement we got about the game was a bit disappointing to many fans – Bethesda implied that it was a very low priority for them right now, and they are more focused on other projects. Mainly, of course, their current work on “Fallout 4”.
The news shouldn’t have been surprising to Bethesda’s fans who are following the company’s activities more closely though, as it’s pretty widely known that they are tightly focused on “Fallout 4” at the moment. Considering the studio’s tendency to work on one major project at a time, it makes sense that they would have no available resources to allocate to “Elder Scrolls 6”, at least not any major ones.
Knowing the game is far away hasn’t stopped fans from discussing it though, as can be expected. We are actually seeing some very creative ideas being brought up on a regular basis, not just from gamers but critics as well. For example, one publication brought up a topic that has been touched in gaming forums a few times already, namely the possibility of seeing an equivalent to “Fallout Shelter” for the next “Elder Scrolls” game.
The trend of promoting AAA games with accompanying mobile releases is becoming more and more popular, so that’s a real possibility. However, it’s highly unlikely that a game based on the “Elder Scrolls” series would work like that, as “Fallout Shelter” had a unique gameplay premise based on the game’s lore. There are various possibilities for how Bethesda could tie the world of their fantasy franchise with a mobile game though, so that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
In addition, the companion app for “Fallout 4” was positively received, leading fans to wonder if something like that could work for the next “Elder Scrolls” as well. According to some fans, that seems even less likely, given the Pip-Boy theme of the original companion app.
Other than mobile games, talks about the sixth “Elder Scrolls” have mostly been focused on the possibility of online play. The franchise is traditionally purely single-player focused, but Bethesda did try to branch it out into a multiplayer game. Unfortunately, that experiment didn’t quite work out successfully, as “The Elder Scrolls Online” saw mixed responses from fans. Ultimately, many decided that the gameplay didn’t work well, while the online setting took away some of the game’s charm.
Because of this, we don’t expect Bethesda to put too much effort into a possible online component of the game, though we never know what they might be preparing behind their doors. After all, the studio has managed to surprise their fans countless times before, and it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to consider that they would experiment heavily with one of their most popular franchises.
Some fans of the series seem convinced that Bethesda should actually avoid releasing the game too soon. The studio has been quite busy lately, as they are also handling the publishing of various prominent titles while doing their own development work. Because of this, if the new “Elder Scrolls” did get announced in the next few months, some would suspect the game of being rushed.
An online component would work great with Skyrim as long as they don’t try to make it MMO. Borderlands is fun as multiplayer when you can hop on with a few friends, and I wouldn’t think it would be much different with Skyrim. As an option I would love it, but wouldn’t want it mandatory or trolls are going to be joining random games and going around killing non-essential quest givers.