New Elder Scrolls "potentially" for 2010

By Ellie Gibson Published 29 October, 2008

Plus: Bethesda not interested in the Wii.

Bethesda has hinted that the next instalment in the tip-top Elder Scrolls series won't be released until 2010.

Speaking to our friends at GamesIndustry.biz, publishing exec Paul Oughton also said there are no current plans to release any Bethesda titles for Nintendo consoles.

"At the moment we've got Fallout 3 for this year and potentially there's a new Elder Scrolls title in 2010," said Oughton. "At the moment we're not that interested in the Wii. We're going to stick to PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

"We'll continue to pursue three or four titles a year and go for big titles," he added. Oughton acknowledged that Nintendo has done a great job of expanding the games market to a mass audience - but said he expects things will soon reach saturation point.

"We've seen game selling in the past 18 months that we never thought we'd see. We wouldn't have thought that pet games and cooking games would have a viable market five years ago. No publisher would have taken those products on," he said.

"But Nintendo bought new products in with vast amounts of marketing money to launch these into the minds of the consumer and made a market for them. Every other publisher then very quickly developed DS and Wii products and we're getting to saturation now."

Never mind all that - 2010, you say? Oh well. At least there's Bethesda's Fallout 3 to be getting on with in the meantime. It's out this Friday for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, and it's well good.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (44) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Iora #1 3 years ago

    You know when you've reached saturation point when "What's cooking with Jamie Oliver" hits the shelves!

    Bets on how many reach for google!?
    Edited by 1 at 29/10/08 @ 16:51

  • NotSoSlim #2 3 years ago

    As long as the PS3 version isnt gimped like Fallout i will be happy.

  • DFawkes #3 3 years ago

    Indeed, on Wii we're spoilt for grand, free-roaming games with plenty of depth like Oblivion, or the more technically plausible Morrowind.

    Wait a sec...

  • Weezer #4 3 years ago

    2010? That could be perilously close to a launch title for Xbox 3/Xbox 720/Xbox Next...

  • bigbadbeasty #5 3 years ago

    "Bets on how many reach for google!?"

    I'll save em' the hassle! :)

    http://www.j amieoliver.com/whats-cooking

  • gingerlink #6 3 years ago

    I can understand companies like this not wanting to publish on wii, despite the wii's need for games like this.

    Despite the fact there are a lot of wiis on the market, the amount of gamers who own one who would be interested in a game like this are unlikely to be much higher than the numbers on xbox 360 and PS3 and publishing on the wii would restrict them a bit, although not as much some people would think.

    It's all a shame really, but it's down to developer preference in the end.

  • Xerx3s #7 3 years ago

    Maybe it's a launch title. ;)

  • gingerlink #8 3 years ago

    Zerx3s has rumour train starting material there...

  • PearOfAnguish #9 3 years ago

    "Western devs are so obsessed with visuals, it's beyond sad"

    Hardly the devs fault. They're doing what's expected of them, making games with cutting edge visuals. That's what sells. Look at all the petty arguments and tiresome graphical comparisons that go on between PS3 and Xbox 360 users. If Bethesda made a TES game for Wii the comments here would be filled with people bitching about the visuals.

  • Xerx3s #10 3 years ago

    "Western devs are so obsessed with visuals, it's beyond sad"

    Ah yes, the good old "graphics are less important than gameplay" bull argument. I suppose that the person in question (can't see him so I suppose he's blocked) has no problem with playing all games until eternity in zork text. After all, investing in graphics is sad. The person in question has keenly forgotten that obsessing with graphics has sparked off most of the genres that where before that not possible (because there was no way to visualise the gameplay).

  • PameBoy #11 3 years ago

    Good god, it's like these developers don't even understand basic business acumen. Get it through your thick head Oughton, there is a MASSIVE GAP in the Wii market for big, open-ended, epic RPGs and the like. You could at the very least, port Morrowind over cheaply (the PC version, mind, using the pointer instead of the mouse) and exploit the fact that you have no competitors on the platform. It's just

    BASIC

    FUCKING

    BUSINESS

  • Unofficial #12 3 years ago

    Just because a specific game type hasn't been done on a console doesn't mean that there is a huge gap in the market for it. Funnily enough most people that have Wii's probably don't want a huge open ended RPG. They want it for Wii sports, Wii fit etc. Those (relatively hardcore) gamers that have a Wii and do want a huge open ended RPG arent likely to buy a watered down Wii version.

    Bethesda already have a business model that works. They focus on the consoles that can do justice to the type of game they want to make. Do you want them to go down the road of Ubisoft and include a token Wii version of every game they release (most of them pretty bad due to how much they are watered down)?



  • Eraysor #13 3 years ago

    I do love Bethesda. Their games eat ridiculous amounts of my life.

  • PameBoy #14 3 years ago

    @ Unofficial: Fuck no, and that has absolutely nothing to do with what I said. My point is whichever way you slice it, the Wii is the console with the highest user base, and Bethesda have nothing out on it. Nada. Zip, zilch. The argument that the Wii "can't" do that type of game is patently nonsense. Morrowind was on the Xbox, and gameplay-wise there's a negligible difference between that and Oblivion. All of which means Bethesda's "business" model involves wilfully spending more money on developing graphical bells & whistles for a console with fewer users.

    - Edited for my shitty typing. My hands are cold. so cold...
    Edited by 3 at 29/10/08 @ 19:08

  • Unofficial #15 3 years ago

    I just think you're making a lot of assumptions. Lets say they did port Morrowind to the Wii - it's not going to be an insignificant task and I guess their opinion is

    a) There is a fair chance it would not pay. Presumably they estimate that even though there are more Wii's out there, the proportion of those wanting to play an RPG like Morrowind (and on the Wii) are fewer than on the 360 or PS3.
    and/or
    b) They don't want to spend time porting OLD games just to plug a gap. They want to work on the bleeding edge hardware, and they want to focus on creating new experiences.

    I'm not saying that a good open ended RPG can't be done on the Wii. I'm saying that Elder Scrolls is not the franchise to do that. The best Wii games are those that have been designed specifically for the Wii, and have all the love and care and attention that goes with that. However, the Wii has very specific risks (and benefits) associated with it.

    You can hardly blame Bethesda for not suddenly changing tack and throwing in with the Wii. They know what they are good at, and they deliver.

    If they had released Oblivion on Wii, as well as PC, 360 and PS3, do you not think it would fall into that Ubisoft trap? Why would you buy the crap looking Wii version when you could play it on PC, PS3 or 360?

    You need to do the Wii justice. Porting Morrowind isn't doing that. Creating a half arsed version of Elder Scrolls 4 isn't doing that either.

  • JediMasterMalik #16 3 years ago

    2011 confirmed ;)

    Can't wait for Beth's new TES game, Oblivion was brilliant if deeply flawed. Morrowind was the same. Hopefully they can look back upon what made those games great, as well as their shortcomings and improve the game.

  • JahB #17 3 years ago

    great to see that there's some devs out there that still focus on quality instead of cashing in on crappy gimped games. and if they manage to improve oblivion's flawed fighting and levelling, i'll happily put the new one on my 2010 list

  • PameBoy #18 3 years ago

    @ Unofficial: Fair play. I'm not really suggesting that porting Morrowind is the ideal thing to do, obviously it's best to play to the strengths of any given platform. I'm just saying that it's foolish to say "We're not making game X for the Wii, because the Wii only has Y-type games". It's just this amazingly stupid and short-sighted circular logic developers use as an excuse for not actually trying in the first place. Anyone can see that the Wii has the best potential of any console platform for recreating the tactical responsiveness of a PC-style mouse pointer interface, and the whole concept of the Wii is supposed to be to broaden the market, not narrow it down. My point is that it simply doesn't make sense not to take advantage of a potentially massive pool of consumers, simply because nobody else is doing it yet. You can't tell me that there aren't, for example, millions of Korean StarCraft players who wouldn't jump (or rather, slouch) at the chance to play something like SC2 while sitting on the couch.
    Edited by 1 at 29/10/08 @ 20:27

  • jonsaan #19 3 years ago

    Yet still no cricket game for the DS or Wii:(

  • Xerx3s #20 3 years ago

    "there is a MASSIVE GAP in the Wii market for big, open-ended, epic RPGs and the like."

    Yeah, well there is a reason that the wii is lacking this (and other) genre.

    "You could at the very least, port Morrowind over cheaply (the PC version, mind, using the pointer instead of the mouse) and exploit the fact that you have no competitors on the platform."

    I seriously doubt they can.

    It's not just business, it's making a product. One of the very first things that any game developer book will tell you is to carefully pick the medium that can provide you with the resources that you need to achieve your vision.

  • Unofficial #21 3 years ago

    Yeah I agree that you shouldn't discount the Wii on the basis of not being able to do certain types of games, or there not being a precedent for those types of games on the Wii already. It's shortsighted.

    To some publishers, re-hashing old games on the Wii (or DS) is probably an attractive prospect. I don't mean that in an overly negative way. As you said, there's going to be a proportion of gamers on that console that might have been crying out for something to plug that gap.

    However, not all companies want to go down the re-hash road. Likewise, they might not feel comfortable investing whatever it will take in a game to really do the Wii justice. It's that "whatever it will take" that can be the off-putting part. If you are a company that averages 90%+ in your games, you better make sure your Wii game maintains that reputation. If there is an unknown quantity there, it can be a very risky prospect.

    Personally I think Bethesda are doing fine without supporting the Wii. I can understand why they might not want to go there.



  • Retroid #22 3 years ago

    /Wants

  • hiddenranbir #23 3 years ago

    Note to Bethesda. Stop thinking that bringing in Hollywood Actors for bit parts is a good use of money.

  • bonker #24 3 years ago

    "Maybe it's a launch title. ;) "

    I think you can take that as read - 2010 on XBOX 720 ...


    "As long as the PS3 version isnt gimped like Fallout i will be happy. "

    Well, see the above, I think you can bank on it being far the weaker version, graphically at least ...


    "Good god, it's like these developers don't even understand basic business acumen. Get it through your thick head Oughton, there is a MASSIVE GAP in the Wii market for big, open-ended, epic RPGs and the like. You could at the very least, port Morrowind over cheaply (the PC version, mind, using the pointer instead of the mouse) and exploit the fact that you have no competitors on the platform. It's just "

    There's a reason there's a 'massive gap' as you put it - the % of Wii owners who are genuinely going to be interested in a stats and graphics-heavy 'real' RPG is tiny to say the least. Also, the power of the Wii is sooo far behind the likes of the 360 and the PS3 that it would take as much work to make it playable on the Wii as it took to dev it in the first place for the other platforms. I'm not saying the Wii's relative lack of power means it crap but you've gotta be realistic about the kind of games it's ever going to be capable of running. What's more, that gulf of CPU power is only going to get larger as time goes by ...

  • bonker #25 3 years ago

    If y'all could pick *just two* things to improve on Oblivion for this new ES game, what would you pick?

    Mine:

    1/ More varied dungeons

    2/ More voice actors

  • PameBoy #26 3 years ago

    "I'm not saying the Wii's relative lack of power means it crap but you've gotta be realistic about the kind of games it's ever going to be capable of running."

    Somebody hasn't been paying attention. Morrowind was on the Xbox, and gameplay-wise it's really no different from Oblivion. The only significant difference is graphical fidelity. So saying the Wii would be "incapable" of running that kind of game is obviously nonsense.

  • JediMasterMalik #27 3 years ago

    @pameboy - How about the physics which allowed for a better combat system? Say what you want about a game, graphics make a big part of it, Bethesda simply don't want to make a graphically archaic game. That's their prerogative.

  • clockworkzombie #28 3 years ago

    If I recall correctly Bethesda release a teaser trailer 18 months before the final game release. There has not been an Elder Scrolls teaser yet.

    edit

    I did a search and apparently there is a trailer on youtube.
    [link url=http://au.y outube.com/watch?v=SwMxg-BRqwo
    ]http://au.y outube.com/watch?v=SwMxg-BRqwo
    [/link]
    Edited by 1 at 30/10/08 @ 06:36

  • Scimarad #29 3 years ago

    That looks awfully like Warhammer:-)

  • Widge #30 3 years ago

    *sigh*

    Its just sad that by then both my laptop and console will be off the pace of a good spec.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #31 3 years ago

    there is a MASSIVE GAP in the Wii market for big, open-ended, epic RPGs and the like

    Yes, look at the massive sales for the Wii's last high-profile large scale fantasy action/adventure game, Okami.

  • muscleblade #32 3 years ago

    "As long as the PS3 version isnt gimped like Fallout i will be happy."

    Bet it will be. Time to buy the superior console maybe?

  • curtlikesmeat #33 3 years ago

    If y'all could pick *just two* things to improve on Oblivion for this new ES game, what would you pick?

    1. More interesting setting (although this was the centre of the 'human' part of Tamriel it was pretty dull compared to Morrowind in the way it looked).

    2. Big cities - let's see some cities that look like the ones in Assassin's Creed with populations in the thousands, I can't believe no one has done that again yet. I mean - in Oblivion that was the main city of the massive empire, and it had a population of about 32!!







    3. Needs moar Bean!1

  • Xerx3s #34 3 years ago

    "Somebody hasn't been paying attention. Morrowind was on the Xbox, and gameplay-wise it's really no different from Oblivion. The only significant difference is graphical fidelity. So saying the Wii would be "incapable" of running that kind of game is obviously nonsense."

    The problem is, have we seen one game on the wii that showed equal or better graphics? It was suffering from serious lack of power issues on the xbox (makes oblvion look smooth on the 360), I highly doubt that it would run any better on the wii. Every game I've played so far was nowhere near the graphical level of the xbox. Then there is also the fact that morrowind was actually DESIGNED for the hardware of the xbox. The xbox was basically a pc, if they where to port it, you could definitely expect a performance issue on that as well (for one, it made very good use of the HDD).

    Besides, you speak of a gap in the market being the only thing that makes good business sense to invest in. If there is a large gap in the market , there usually is a reason for it. I think that it's a bit arrogant to assume that one of the biggest companies in the industry would know less what they are talking about than you. Business is about more than just filling gaps. Gamedesign is about more than just filling gaps.

  • Xerx3s #35 3 years ago

    "Bet it will be. Time to buy the superior console maybe? "

    Oh will you PLEASE kindly fuck off with that shit?

  • UncleLou #36 3 years ago

    Bit of a great oversimplification to say they have no business sense by not making a Wii game. Bethesda aren't that huge, and are rather specialised, and with a specific target audience. Just porting over Morrowind, and ancient game by today's standards, won't cut it.

    I for one prefer it if developers, at least to a degree, do what they want to do, and don't just run after the biggest install base.

  • SliderNL #37 3 years ago

    The problem is the Wii is not the lack of power ( it's a souped up gamecube), but the audience. Casual gamers don't boy a lot of games, and the games they do buy last a long time. Why do you think the software to console ratio for the Wii is a little bit higher than 2? That means that on average the Wii-owner owns just 2 games.

  • kangarootoo #38 3 years ago

    @bigbadbeasty

    Mother of GOD. There are some choice gems in that Jamie Oliver game trailer.

    "From shopping to chopping"

    "A book's worth of receipes" for twice the price of a book.

    "Organise your shopping list"

    Where do I sign up?

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #39 3 years ago

    Then there is also the fact that morrowind was actually DESIGNED for the hardware of the xbox

    Not really, you know. Morrowind was (just as Oblivion and Fallout 3 still are) based heavily on the Gamebryo middleware engine, then called NetImmerse.

    Gamebryo is available for the wii, so I expect that a port of Morrowind, or a severely cut-down Oblivion would be possible, though it might talk maybe half a dozen people a good few months to get it going, then some more to tweak the interfaces and such that they suit the wii.

  • septimus #40 3 years ago

    Hope they don't try releasing anything on the Wii, they can't manage to code for the consoles they have. How the feck did they go from Oblivion being good on the PS3 to Fallout being utter balls on it?

    The 360 version is buggy, but damn, they screwed up on PS3. Glad I have the choice of either format for when this stuff happens.

    As a side note, not seen any Wii game that looks as good as the best on the original XBOX. Which is pretty pathetic. Imagine a muddy, low fps version of Morrowind jerking around with bad controls... that would be the Wii version.
    Edited by 1 at 30/10/08 @ 10:36

  • FladgeMangle #41 3 years ago

    The wait for the next Elder Scrolls would be easier if bethesda would PUT THE OBLIVION DLC ON PSN.

    Please?

  • EMarkM #42 3 years ago

    Pick two things to change? 1. Please don't have an equivalent of the oblivion gates - they depressed me and I hated them. 2. Either monsters that don't level with you, more varied dungeons or more varied cities- I can't decide which!

  • FladgeMangle #43 3 years ago

    Choose "more varied dungeons" :o)

    The cities were well varied, assuming by "cities" you mean towns? levelling monsters wasn't so bad, you still knew who the grunts were but had to keep your wits when confronting the badass types.

    Agreed on Oblivion gates. 70s heavy metal album cover repetitive slogging = fun failure.

  • clockworkzombie #44 3 years ago

    @Scimarad

    I agree. My first thought when I saw it was Warhammer, it may well be fake. The first trailer I found rickrolled me. If there was a trailer I would have expected it to be here as well.