Bethesda: Elder Scrolls "will continue"

By Tom Bramwell Published 18 August, 2009

Says Todd Howard was misquoted.

Bethesda Softworks has said that the Elder Scrolls series "definitely will continue" despite reports to the contrary during QuakeCon.

"An article came out where Todd was quoted as saying we had no plans for [The Elder Scrolls V]. He did not say that. That was not a direct quote from him. That was someone's interpretation of what he said. I know, I was there," the developer's Pete Hines wrote in a post on its blog.

"At his QuakeCon talk he was asked when TESV is coming out and Todd replied, 'Don't look for a new Elder Scrolls game in the near future.' He also went on to say how much the franchise means to us and that it definitely will continue. He just wasn't going to provide any timeframe on 'when'.

"This should not be news to anyone that has been paying attention. Both Todd and I have said repeatedly that, of course, we're going to do another Elder Scrolls game," Hines wrote.

He added that neither of them, nor anyone else at Bethesda, was going to comment on speculation or hint at a possible future, and went on to further distance the developer from reports about URLs related to an Elder Scrolls MMO and a joke Howard made during his QuakeCon talk on the subject.

The last Elder Scrolls, Oblivion, came out in 2006 and was a minor success among people with sentience. Bethesda followed it up with Fallout 3 last year, but has kept quiet since about its next big game, although it admits there is one in development.

Perhaps it's a new Elder Scrolls game! We're surprised nobody is considering this.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (34) Latest comment 3 years ago

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  • Domovoi #1 3 years ago

    Please don't let it be an Elder Scrolls MMO after all. I don't need to walk into a beautiful, atmospheric fantasy town square to find a couple dozen people shouting "tx 4 buff!" and "BUY GOLD NOW $$".

  • davisorle #2 3 years ago

    @Domovoi
    Then again im in a NEED of a good MMO since im sick and tired of WoW.. If they manage to give more than a decent PvP to an Elder Scrolls MMO I'm willing to be paying for it for years but anything else so far is just not good enough to PvP :p

  • PearOfAnguish #3 3 years ago

    Oh no, you've done it now. You've gone and mentioned Bethesda and, like saying Candyman five times, Yossarian will now appear to moan about how Bethesda are terrible and every game they make an abomination against God.
    Edited by 1 at 18/08/09 @ 09:10

  • Eraysor #4 3 years ago

    To be honest after playing Fallout I'd much rather play Fallout 4 than be back in that generic fantasy world, even if I did love Oblivion.

  • andywilkie35 #5 3 years ago

    @PearofAnguish

    +1 mate, perish the thought of liking good games!

    Oblivion is in my top 5 of this gen, I'd love another one

  • Eighthours #6 3 years ago

    Perhaps it's a new Elder Scrolls game! We're surprised nobody is considering this.

    I am. And it is. Almost certainly.

  • dr_faulk #7 3 years ago

    If they used the Oblivion framework but with proper online co-op play... man, that would be teh win.

  • Olemak #8 3 years ago

    Elder Scrolls running on id tech 5 (or 6) ? Yes please, but I can understand that taking a while to get sorted.

    MMO not neccecary, but I cand understand that they'd concider it. Co-op would be nice tho, and maybe even online arenas and stuff. They could do a lot of fun stuff with co-op and PVP if they wanted to, especially with tech from id.

    What is most interesting, I think, is that Bethesda will now be moving away from the licenced engine Gamebryo, which thay are very adept at using , granted; and towards more advanced stuff from id. I think the result could be very interesting. The id guys are crap game designer (INHO), but fantastic technology guys, while Bethesda is more or less the exact opposite. They're a great match for each other, if they can only make the collaboration work.

  • Nameless-001 #9 3 years ago

    It doesn't matter. After Oblivion and trowing away all the good things that could have come in it from Morrowind, it's cristal clear they aren't capable or interested to do decent RPGs. They even succeeded into ruining one of the masterpieces of the genre, Fallout.
    They can be sure I'll not buy any more of their empty, dumb and consolish games.
    Edited by 1 at 18/08/09 @ 09:46

  • skillian #10 3 years ago

    I was optimistically hoping that an Elder Scrolls V was nearly done...

    There have been a few RPGs since, but nothing has quite grabbed me since 2006 like Oblivion did. The only thing that has come close to it in terms of scale was Fallout 3, but for some reason it didn't really click with me, and I want to be out in lush forests and snowy mountains again :)
    Edited by 1 at 18/08/09 @ 09:59

  • wittynic #11 3 years ago

    Nameless 001 - On your own.


    Loved Oblivion, and still havent finished it. Was deep into side quests, got a little over-zealous with Mods, and deleted my save game :S Havent had the heart to start from scratch again. But Oblivion with online Co-op would quite literally be the most awesome thing ever.

    I'd love to see a hybrid MMO/Co-op set up, where Bethesda have a dedicated team, and maybe you have to pay to play, but you only ever get put into a game World with 3-5 other players at a time.

  • TheMoonRat #12 3 years ago

    "He added that neither of them, nor anyone else at Bethesda, was going to comment on speculation " - he says, commenting on speculation

  • Tomo #13 3 years ago

    "...was a minor success among people with sentience. "

    lol

  • kangarootoo #14 3 years ago

    @Nameless-001

    Have you played Morrowind recently? I have, about 2 weeks ago. Man it has aged badly. I loved it when it was current, despite its issues. But playing it again now, I think I got about 3 hours in before I gave it up.

    It is chock full of old school stubborn headed design choices, that are far more about making a "real RPG" than they are about creating player fun (don't even get me started on the design car wreck that is the hand-to-hand combat skill... just don't).

    Like I said, I loved it when it came out, but playing it again in the modern age with the rose tinted shades removed (despite a few mods to ease the transition) just felt like homework.
    Edited by 1 at 18/08/09 @ 10:38

  • PearOfAnguish #15 3 years ago

    Morrowind does feel a bit dated now, but there's still a lot of good stuff in there. The art direction is better than Oblivion and the character creation and magic have a lot more depth and flexibility.

    Take the best bits of Morrowind and Oblivion, and VATS from Fallout 3, and smush them together.

    Hope they bring back the feather and jump spells. Making an enchanted item that let you leap halfway across the map was brilliant fun.

  • kangarootoo #16 3 years ago

    @PearOfAnguish

    I'd agree overall, but I would question whether some of the "depth" of Morrowind's skill system is a good thing. 3 different skills for bladed weapons just seems a bit of a pain in the butt to me.

    Also, Morrowind followed some of the ludicrous skill seperation rules laid down by countless generations of P&P games (such as somone who is a master with a longsword being rubbish with a dagger, or someone who is expert at fighting in steel armour being a lumbering fool when wearing leather). Most modern P&P systems have thrown this nonsense out and come up with decent cross-skill systems, and many video game RPGs would do well to follow suit.

  • PearOfAnguish #17 3 years ago

    Yeah it's not hurt by some simplification and I agree there are silly things like that, but I think it needs to force you to specialise while providing the flexibility to build your own character. In both Oblivion and Fallout it's very easy to max out all the skills. I'd like to see a tougher game where you can't be a Godlike jack-of-all-trades.

    Rather than having short and long blades as separate skills, they could have them under a broad 'Blades' skill and allow you to drill down and specialise in particular fighting styles. Although you could be an expert with a long sword and know how to use a knife, you're still not going to be as effective with a shorter blade as a dedicated knife fighter.
    Edited by 2 at 18/08/09 @ 11:23

  • Bazfrag #18 3 years ago

    Bring back levitation please. (Although i believe its a ram issue hence loading times for cities in Oblivion, but it was fun flying across Vivec in Morrowind.) Also separate the blade skills to short and long again, and mark/recall spells rather than quick travel. Most of all, new armour and weapon types. Phew... and co-op rather than mmo please.

  • kangarootoo #19 3 years ago

    "In both Oblivion and Fallout it's very easy to max out all the skills. I'd like to see a tougher game where you can't be a Godlike jack-of-all-trades."

    I agree with that completely. Specialisation seems to have dropped out of modern RPG type games. Bioshock struck me the same way compared to SS2. You could max upgrade every weapon if you were thorough in your hunting, and your use of plasmids was limited by usable slots more than anything else. The days of fundamentally choosing between "feeble wizard, iron tough warrior, or nimble ranger" seem to be behind us :(

    Now if a new Elder Scrolls game includes co-op, of which I thoroughly approve (though I'm not much interested in full fat mmo type gameplay, the general public just tend to ruin things), that might give them an opportunity to include a better degree of specialism whilst still serving their fancy new-fangled "all inclusive" ideals.

  • kangarootoo #20 3 years ago

    "Also separate the blade skills to short and long again, and mark/recall spells rather than quick travel"

    Nooooooooo!!! This is the sort of stuff I think we are well rid of.

    In what possible sense do seperate long and short blade skills represent anything other than a hark back to the P&P RPGs of the 80s? They don't represent real life, they don't represent any decent P&P system of the last 20 years, they take control away from the player and put it more in the hands of the game world (I make a character good at long blade fighting, and then find the world is full of daggers and axes, so I start my character again).

    And mark/recall is a pain in the ass. The whole "you can only teleport to places you have walked to" system of Oblivion worked a treat imo. Now if they include mark/recall spells as well, I guess we can choose.

    At least we agree on the co-op vs mmo front ;)

  • Bazfrag #21 3 years ago

    Yes, yes we do :) I also see your point regarding skills and travel, i was just used to them. Its hard to let go!
    Edited by 1 at 18/08/09 @ 12:01

  • kangarootoo #22 3 years ago

    @Bazfrag

    And we also agree about new armour and weapon types :)

    Let me expand on my idea, and I'll use Shadowrun as an example (if memory serves). My problem is not distinct weapon skills perse, but rather the lack of connection between said weapon skills. ŁE.g. if I am shit with a dagger, I am shit with a dagger, regardless of how good I am with a longsword.

    What I think would be much better (and what is common in many "current" P&P systems) is a system that runs thus.


    I have agility and strength stats, which combine to govern my weapon skills. I then have weapon specialisms, that make me even better with certain weapons. Now lets says I'm using a dagger but I have no dagger specialism, the game looks at my next favourable skill (longsword) and uses this skill instead, with a -2 penalty or something. Nopw lets say another character is using a dagger and has no bladed specialisms, the game instead goes to the underlying stat (whichever is highest out of strength and agility) but applies a -10 penalty.

    All this means that being good with weapons is better than beingcrap with weapons, but not as good as being practised with with the specific weapon you are weilding.

  • Bazfrag #23 3 years ago

    That sounds good. Get on a plane with these ideas and tell em i sent you.

  • PearOfAnguish #24 3 years ago

    shouldnt everone be able to enjoy these games

    No, that's silly. How are games designers supposed to please everybody?

    If you're not a fan of RPGs may I suggest you don't buy any more of them in the future. Especially don't buy a game from a genre you don't like then complain that you were disappointed.

  • kangarootoo #25 3 years ago

    @donnie080208

    Jesus, here have a tissue.

    "must admit im not a rpg fan BUT shouldnt everone be able to enjoy these games"

    Well we could expand that to say shouldn't everyone be able to enjoy EVERY game, regardless of what their preference is. And the obvious answer is a big fat NO. Is that not obvious?

  • LowEnergyCycle #26 3 years ago

    @PearOfAnguish
    "Morrowind does feel a bit dated now, but there's still a lot of good stuff in there. The art direction is better than Oblivion"

    Really? I stuck it on a few months ago for a bit of nostalgia, and thought it was probably the brownest game I've ever laid eyes on. Comparatively, Oblivion is a visual feast IMHO.


    @donnie080208
    "the graphics and engine were poor and the combat was boring and pointless imo"

    And being an expert of the craft, you'd obviously be able to do better? :p

  • PearOfAnguish #27 3 years ago

    Comparatively, Oblivion is a visual feast IMHO.

    Oblivion has a Disney colour palette and generic fantasy look. It's not ugly, but Morrowind's grimy, almost alien, design is far more interesting.

  • gmmonkey #28 3 years ago

    No! I want it now.

  • Darren #29 3 years ago

    Fallout 3 and Oblivion are two of my favourite games this generation so I'm interested in anything RPG-like that Bethesda do in the future.

    I hope though that they return to the Elder Scrolls series next or even do something entirely new in the RPG field that isn't post-apocalyptic because good as Fallout 3 undoubtedly is, the setting was drab and depressing. Intentional and very well done, yes, but one that doesn't allow for a game full of hope, joy and happiness. I much prefer the fantasy setting of Oblivion even if it they end up being derivative of other fantasy-based RPG out there.

    They really need to ditch the Embryo engine though or overhaul it completely and fix that awful stilted animation that their games have.

  • ph101 #30 3 years ago

    I agree the animation is a big problem. But one thing i'm amazed so many reviewers and players overlook is the fact that characterscan't open doors. Instead they simply disappear and rematerialise on the other side. Talk about suspension of disbelief shattering. Ok we start to not notice it after a bit but it really is antiquated. I'm aware of the cell designed nautre of oblivion but they need to sort out a streaming system that allow continuous indoor, outdoor travel. I think.

    Also co-op - how would this work. When you access inventory in Oblivion (and I believe in Fallout 3 though I sadly cant run it) - the gameworld is paused allowing you to select your weapons/spells at leisure. What does the other player do at this point? Not syaing its impossible but some big design choices there. I suppose you could just make it so inventory doesnt pause game world but who knows if bethesda have the vision to do this.

    Also Morrowind - i'm playing it through first time. It's pretty cool, dpes looks a dated and for me the worse aspect is tracking your missions, although that was not amazing on Oblivion either..

  • Darren #31 3 years ago

    The characters fade through doors rather than open them because the data for the room or area beyond the door doesn't exist until it is loaded when YOU pass through it. If the doors were shown opening then it would leave either a void beyond it or require the game to load the data pre-emptively, which would be wasteful if you've no intention of going that way.

    The engine Bethesda use needs updating to allow for the better streaming of data a la GTA IV/Saints Row 2 so there are no loading screens when moving between different areas and entering/exiting buildings. Games like these should only have loading screens when you're quick travelling from one part of the map to another otherwise they do spoil the immersion somewhat.

  • comissars_handgun #32 3 years ago

    Huh? I thought they confirmed they were working on a new Elder Scrolls game a while back, it was going to be set in the snowy viking type country to the north of where Oblivion is set. I've been replaying Oblivion recently and after playing Fallout 3 the levelling system and the conversations are just terrible in comparison. It's so easy to list all Oblivion's many flaws, but it's also so easy to just get sucked into that world and play for hours and hours and hours....

    Oblivion is still the only 360 game I have got every achievement for.

  • clockworkzombie #33 3 years ago

    Bethesda normally release a teaser trailer 18 months before a new game release and we have not had that teaser yet.

  • Bravestinsane #34 3 years ago

    I actually really liked Oblivion only thing i was dissapointed with was that leveling was pretty irrelivent because everything else leveled with me.

    I wasn't any good at the game and lituarally the only way i completed it was buy hideing and letting my summoned creatures do all the work.