The Elder Scrolls 6is in a particularly tricky spot as gaming enters the next generation of hardware with the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Even gamers who weren’t fans ofThe Elder Scrolls 5have to admit thatSkyrimdefined RPGs for a generation of gaming, leading many other games to begin attempting to integrate open worlds into their design to varying degrees of success.
The Elder Scrolls 6will need to pull no punches in order to live up toSkyrim’s immense legacy, but with hot competition in the first-person fantasy open-world RPG market coming from Obsidian Entertainment and its upcoming titleAvowed, the nextElder Scrollsgame risked being overshadowed by new a IP, especially since there has been little news aboutTES6since its announcement. However, there’s one big reason that Bethesda can now useAvowedto help ensure that the nextElder Scrollsis a game-changing RPG likeSkyrim.
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Microsoft’s Acquisition of Bethesda
Bethesda was bought my Microsoft this week, as part of a deal to purchase the studio’s parent company Zenimax Media Inc. Obsidian Entertainment was bought by Microsoft all the way back in 2018, which could mean great things for fans ofThe Elder Scrolls. While old rivalries die hard, especially after theObsidian-BethesdaFallout: New Vegascontroversy, this acquisition could mark the turning over of a new leaf in the collaborative history of the two studios.
For now at least Obsidian has been keeping many of the details aboutAvowedvery close to its chest, with theAvowedtrailer only really revealing the game’s setting in theworld of Eora fromPillars of Eternityand the fact that it would be a sword-and-sorcery style first-person RPG that, at least in the trailer, reminded many fans ofSkyrim. However, now that both companies are under one roof Bethesda could learn ’s development process and some new design ideas that could be implemented inThe Elder Scrolls 6.
For example, it is possible thatAvowedwill include shipsjust like inPillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, which saw the Watcher and their crew take to the high seas in search of the lost god of light Eothas. It is likely thatThe Elder Scrolls 6is set in the west of Tamriel, around Hammerfell if rumors are to be believed.
The region is full of pirate factions likeHamerfell’s Restless Leaguethat operates out of the island of Stros M’Kai inThe Elder Scrolls: Redguard, and Bethesda could look at howAvowedtries to handle managing a ship in an open-world RPG. In short,Avowedwill be able to serve as a litmus test for what works and what doesn’t in next-gen RPGs. It is likely that Obsidian will introduce some ambitious features – the game will have to if it wants to avoid constant comparisons withThe Elder Scrollsseries. Ironically, this could now be great forThe Elder Scrolls 6.
From Avowed to TES6
The Elder Scrolls 6will need to introduce some ambitious new features as well if it’s going to step out ofSkyrim’s sizeable shadow, so having agame likeAvowedtry out some potential new features first will be a huge boon for the studio, and with Microsoft now owning both companies Bethesda may be able to get some more intimate insight into Obsidian’s development process far in advance, perhaps in exchange for sharing ideas.
Not only that, but Bethesda also has its own projects which it can use to experiment with based on some of the lessons learned fromAvowed. It has already been established, for example, that Bethesda will be embarking on its first new IP RPG project in decades with itsupcoming gameStarfield, and the studio has also said thatStarfieldwill be released beforeThe Elder Scrolls 6.
Furthermore, it has also come out thatThe Elder Scrolls 6andStarfieldwill mark a big turn away from the use ofBethesda’s old engine. The new engine could mark as big a leap as the studio made fromMorrowindtoOblivion. This would allow Bethesda to learn from the development ofAvowed, experiment with some of the lessons learned in the studio’s new engine inStarfield, and then realize a more polished version of the next-gen first-person fantasy RPG inThe Elder Scrolls 6.
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The Future of The Elder Scrolls
The Elder Scrolls 6has never had more educational resources available for its development, and the fact that these opportunities are now present could make the long wait for theSkyrimsequel, rumored to be set for release around 2025, finally worth it for many fans. The sharing of resources and learning experiences betweenBethesda and Obsidiancould see the open-world first-person RPG genre get out of the plateau it has been in sinceSkyrim’s release, withFallout 4andFallout 76both failing to achieve the same acclaim asSkyrimor expand significantly on the best aspects of the genre, like player freedom.
Ultimately, however, it remains to be seen howMicrosoft will manage Bethesdaand Obsidian now that they’re under one broad roof. It is possible that the new owner will see competition as healthy and more likely to produce good results from both companies, which could mean that Bethesda may not have the total access to Obsidian’s development process that the company might need to perfect the design ofThe Elder Scrolls 6in another way.
It is also possible thatStarfield’s sci-fi setting will not be the best place to test out some of thethings learned aboutAvowed, a fantasy game, which could mean thatThe Elder Scrolls 6still has to take some big risks. Many fans, however, will likely see that as a good thing. Whatever happens,The Elder Scrolls 6still has a huge legacy to live up to, and it remains to be seen what changes Microsoft will make to the developer and its process and how it could affect the development timelines of its upcoming projects and the priorities the studio has.
