Todd Howard working on two new games

Bethesda Game Studios is already designing the game it will make after the one the team is currently working on - which itself has yet to be announced, executive producer Todd Howard has told Eurogamer.

While the majority of Bethesda's 90 or so staff are beavering away on the new game, which has been in development for two years, Howard said his time is split between the two projects.

"I spend a lot of my time on the game that's in pre-production, but the new game that's percolating takes the most of my time," he said in an interview with Eurogamer at QuakeCon.

Asked to confirm that he meant he was working on a second unannounced game, he said: "Right, so we're in production on the new game, and we have a design going for the one after that."

Howard said that the studio's current title will be announced soon, but he can't say exactly when. "I have a sense but we're not ready even to talk about [the timing of the announcement], because it might change. I don't want to disappoint people.

"One thing I can say is that from when you first hear about it to when it's out will be the shortest it's been for us. It's pretty far along. When we show it, we want to show a lot, because there's a lot of game there to play right now.

"You know, if [global VP of PR and marketing] Pete Hines came in and said, 'I want you to show it,' I'd be like, 'Okay, I'm ready to show it.' But we've just decided for now not to yet."

Howard wouldn't be drawn on many details about the game - thought to be a new Elder Scrolls title - but said the technology was derived from the engine that powered Fallout 3, albeit with significant modifications.

"Fallout 3 technically does a lot more than Oblivion. The new stuff is an even bigger jump from that," he said. "I can say it is on the existing platforms, which we're really happy with. You almost feel like you have a new console when you see the game."

We also discussed downloadable content and lessons learned from the work Bethesda did on Fallout 3 and Oblivion, and Howard indicated that level caps were no longer popular at the Maryland-based studio.

"Going forward if we had to completely redo Fallout 3 we'd probably not have a level cap, because it just makes the game more fun to level up," he said.

"It just does. The sense of accomplishment every time you do something to get some XP. So I think we'll make efforts in the future to not have one."

Howard also said to expect more from the developer when it comes to characters and animation.

"I think there are other people who do it much, much better," he admitted. "That's something we've put a lot of time into - not just technology but people and talent, and how long we spend doing individual elements."

Check out the full interview with Todd Howard elsewhere on Eurogamer today.