Bethesda’s Bruce Nesmith thinks The Elder Scrolls VI might not meet fan expectations.
Nesmith, who was the lead designer for Skyrim, shared his thoughts after leaving Bethesda following Microsoft’s acquisition of the company. He mentioned that the hype surrounding The Elder Scrolls VI sets a bar that’s nearly impossible to reach. In his words, Bethesda’s success is both a “blessing and a curse,” as he told Kiwi Talkz, according to 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 noted that Larian Studios faces similar challenges after the success of Baldur’s Gate 3. He explained that once a studio reaches top-tier status, the pressure to deliver exceptional games becomes enormous.
“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.
We often see that high expectations can lead to disappointment.
Nesmith has been vocal since leaving Bethesda. He previously mentioned that The Elder Scrolls 6 was announced early in 2018 because fans were demanding it, but early announcements come with their own problems. “Those companies that start touting their games years ahead of time? Actually, they screw themselves,” he said.
Many believe the early announcement was to assure fans the game was in the works and to help hire staff for the project. Todd Howard, Bethesda’s boss, admitted in 2023 that he often wonders if announcing The Elder Scrolls 6 so early was the right move. “I have asked myself that a lot,” he said. “I don’t know. I probably would’ve announced it more casually.”
Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s Gaming CEO, mentioned that the platforms for The Elder Scrolls VI are still undecided due to the game’s distant release date.
“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 developing new Xbox hardware, with the next generation possibly arriving in 2028. This means The Elder Scrolls VI could debut on whatever the next Xbox turns out to be.
The Elder Scrolls VI is currently being developed by Bethesda Game Studios, the same team behind Starfield. The first expansion for Starfield, Shattered Space, is set to release on September 30.
