What The Elder Scrolls 6 Being in 'Early Development' Means

Summary

The Elder Scrolls 6 is now in early development, but fans should not expect any news or release anytime soon.
The development process for The Elder Scrolls 6 is likely to be as long as it was for Starfield, which took eight years.
The game is currently in the design phase, with some basic programming and level creation, but alpha and beta versions are still far off.

Even after the release of Bethesda's Starfield, RPG fans are already looking toward the future. While Starfield is a completely new IP for the company and gamers, Bethesda fans of old are now one step closer to the next impending entry in the Elder Scrolls series: The Elder Scrolls 6. As such, it comes as welcome news that The Elder Scrolls 6 is now in early development. However, it may be a bit too early to start celebrating.

The Elder Scrolls is a high fantasy franchise dating back to 1994's The Elder Scrolls: Arena. Since then, the series has grown and expanded into some of the most beloved and popular fantasy RPG games of all time. Featuring expansive open worlds, deep lore, and intricate character customization, the success of the series peaked with its last full entry in 2011, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. While gamers have had an MMO in the form of The Elder Scrolls Online with which to while away their days, core fans of the series have spent years waiting for the next single-player Elder Scrolls experience.

Bethesda's Attention Remains on Starfield for the Time Being

Unfortunately, it looks like fans will be waiting for quite some time to come. During an interview with Vandal, Bethesda's Head of Publishing, Pete Hines, confirmed that The Elder Scrolls 6 has reached the development phase of its production. However, he was quick to say that "it is in development, but it is in early development." When asked whether there will be more news about The Elder Scrolls 6 now that Starfield has released, Hines shot down those hopes pretty definitively. He made it clear that Starfield is the company's focus, and it will remain such for now. Any further information about The Elder Scrolls 6, let alone the actual release of the game, is still years away.

To provide some perspective, Starfield entered into development in 2015 and was only just released this past September 6, 2023, eight years later. So, while it's wonderful news that The Elder Scrolls 6 is finally in development, fans should expect the development process of TES6 to take just as long as it did for Starfield. As such, it would probably be best for gamers to focus on what they have now and enjoy the fresh new adventure that is Starfield, rather than pining for what's to come in the far future.

'Early' Is the Key Word in The Elder Scrolls 6 Being in Early Development

The development cycle of a game is often long and arduous. It technically begins with the pre-production stage, in which all the planning takes place, including concept development and the creation of all design documents that lay out team duties and scheduling. When The Elder Scrolls 6 was announced in 2018 with a teaser trailer, it was in pre-production, and it's taken this long just for the game to exit that stage and enter actual development.

The production stage involves the various steps toward the core creation of the Elder Scrolls 6 product. This includes game design, programming of the source code, level creation, and art and sound production. Design involves stamping out the type of content and gameplay that will be implemented, as well as the game's narrative and artistic direction. All of this is carefully documented for the development team to use in their efforts going forward.

So, when Pete Hines emphasized that The Elder Scrolls 6 is in 'early' development, he probably meant that it is currently in the design phase, with some possible basic programming and level creation being done as well. The team is moving toward the first milestone of many that are hit at various stages of development, the first being known as "first playable", where there's functional gameplay utilizing the most crucial of the game's mechanics.

Alpha and Beta versions of the game are a long way off, and the final implementation of the game and its release schedule are many years away. As such, while it's heartening that The Elder Scrolls 6 is in development, gamers are encouraged to take this news with a grain of salt, and not get too pumped for a game that may well be close to a decade from release.