According to Bethesda veteran Bruce Nesmith, who served as the lead designer on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Elder Scrolls VI may struggle to meet fan expectations. Nesmith, who departed Bethesda following Microsoft's acquisition of the company, stated in an interview that it will be "almost impossible" for The Elder Scrolls VI to live up to the hype. Nesmith believes the issue lies in the high esteem in which Bethesda's Elder Scrolls series is held, due to a series of critical and commercial successes over the years. He described Bethesda's track record of creating great games as a "blessing and a curse," as reported by PC Gamer.
"Elder Scrolls 6 is undoubtedly going to be an amazing game, but it's going to be compared to all the previous games that Bethesda made," Nesmith said. "The fans who want to buy Elder Scrolls 6, their expectation is going to be almost impossible to meet. And marketing departments just put their heads in their hands and weep at this. Because it's like, 'Okay, if it isn't perfect, it doesn't get a 95-plus on Metacritic, we're a failure.'"
Nesmith also pointed out that Bethesda isn't the only company facing this challenge, citing Larian Studios as an example. After releasing one of the most highly regarded RPGs in recent memory, Baldur's Gate 3, Larian now faces the daunting task of following up with something equally impressive. "What are the expectations going to be on that studio's next project? Larian was not a studio that was uppermost on everybody's mind, didn't fall off the lips of the vast majority of people buying video games ... They weren't what everybody considered to be a top-tier publisher. Well, guess what? They are now. They're on the map now, and that means the expectations are sky high for them," he said.
Nesmith is known for his candid remarks since leaving Bethesda. He previously suggested that Bethesda announced The Elder Scrolls 6 so early—back in 2018—because fans were becoming impatient. However, he noted that announcing a game years in advance can backfire. "Those companies that start touting their games years ahead of time? Actually, they screw themselves."
For The Elder Scrolls 6, the early announcement was partly to reassure fans that the game was in development and to attract staff to the project (a similar rationale could apply to the early reveal of Fallout 5). In 2023, Bethesda boss Todd Howard expressed doubts about the early announcement. "I have asked myself that a lot," he said. "I don't know. I probably would've announced it more casually."
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer revealed that the platforms for The Elder Scrolls VI have not yet been decided, partly due to the game's distant release. "With Elder Scrolls VI, it's so far out—it's hard to understand what platforms will even be at this point," Spencer said in 2023. "It's the same team that's finishing Starfield, which [came out in September 2023]. So we're talking about a game that's like five-plus years away."
Microsoft is currently developing new Xbox hardware, with the next console generation potentially starting in 2028, suggesting that The Elder Scrolls VI might debut on the next Xbox. The game is being developed by Bethesda Game Studios, the same team behind Starfield. The first expansion for Starfield, Shattered Space, is set to launch on September 30.
