Skyrim’s Former Lead Designer Reveals How Todd Howard and Bethesda Chooses Regions for Elder Scrolls

Bethesda Game Studios really hit the ball out of the park with Starfield. They have met almost all expectations their fans had with this space exploration RPG. Many are finding it hard to leave this game behind as they explore planet after planet and move from one play-through to the next. But many of those fans also have a question in their minds: Where is Elder Scrolls 6 going to be set?

Where would the developer of phenomenon games like Starfield and Skyrim go? What new world would they get to explore? It’s obvious their next game is Elder Scrolls 6; they have announced it, but where in Tamriel would it be set? It looks like director Todd Howard might already have the answer.

A former developer reveals Bethesda’s process of selecting the setting for Elder Scrolls 6

Games like Starfield, Skyrim, and Fallout 4 do not get made in 2 to 3 years. Fans have seen it a number of times; the amount of work it takes a studio like Bethesda to bring games like those to them is unmatched. From the concept stage to asset building to writing hundreds of years of lore, all this takes years. That might be the reason it took them close to 8 years to launch Starfield.

So how does one go about deciding on their next game? This question was answered by Bruce Nesmith, the former design director of Bethesda. He was asked in a podcast by host Ben Hanson about the process of selecting and setting an Elder Scrolls game. And he clearly said that Todd did that, and he did those years ahead. He states that Todd Howard knew Elder Scrolls 5 would be set in Skyrim way before Oblivion was shipped.

He stated, “That’s his (Todd Howard’s) job; he is supposed to look down the line a lot further than the rest of us do.”

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This simply means that if there’s anyone who knows about the setting of Elder Scrolls 6, it’s Todd Howard, and it appears he has known it for a while. But fans would only know it when Bethesda and Todd decided it was time. And that time is not anywhere close as of now.

How big would this game be, though?

Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim was a huge game; moreover, its world was so painstakingly detailed that fans could not help but gawk at it. That was in 2011, and today, 12 years later, that game still shines as one of the most replayable RPGS of all time. Just roaming around in that game is a pleasure. A similar thing can be said about Fallout 4. Starfield too has this sense of discovery in some sense, on a larger scale, that is, finding new planets, discovering what secrets they hold, and such.

One wonders how far Bethesda would take Elder Scrolls 6, as it would only have one world to explore, not numerous planets like Starfield. Maybe Bethesda will use the details and sense of mystery with this new one to compensate for its limited size compared to Starfield. One thing is for sure: Elder Scroll 6 would be much larger than Skyrim and Fallout 4.

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