Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard has admitted he wishes the studio had never prematurely announced The Elder Scrolls 6 back in 2018, jokingly suggesting that fans should simply “pretend we didn’t announce it.”
The Philosophy of Surprise
In a recent interview with IGN, Howard reflected on the studio’s evolving strategy regarding game reveals. While the initial 2018 teaser was a necessary move to reassure fans that the studio was still committed to single-player experiences, Howard maintains that his ideal approach is to minimize the gap between an announcement and a game’s release date.
“When you go and press play, you’re about to play a game. What do you already know? What’s in your head? What’s your excitement level? What’s your expectations? And I back up from there,” Howard explained. “I prefer not to talk about stuff until then. I like to compress that moment where you hear about a game to when you can play it. Those would be on top of each other if I had my way every time.”
Lessons Learned from Shadow Drops
The sentiment aligns with Howard’s recent praise for “shadow-dropping” titles. Following the surprise release of the Oblivion Remastered, Howard described that tactic as a “test run” for future projects, signaling a shift in how Bethesda intends to handle marketing in the future.
Despite the regret surrounding the 2018 announcement, Howard clarified that the decision served a specific purpose at the time. “It was really about informing our audience, because when you’re going to do something new, everyone’s going to ask, ‘What about Elder Scrolls 6? What about a singleplayer game?’ And we did it that way, but it’s not my preference.”
Managing Bethesda’s Ambitious Pipeline
When pressed on a potential release window for the next installment in The Elder Scrolls series, Howard noted the immense scale of the studio’s current operations. With multiple projects in the works, Bethesda is balancing a heavy workload.
“We’re working on a lot of stuff. I think if you look at the scale of our studio, we could have 10 times the amount of people to do all this,” Howard said. “We’re doing so much and it’s just finding the right times to tell everybody about it.”
While the industry continues to wait for further updates on the game, it is clear that for Howard, the focus remains on keeping expectations grounded and avoiding the pitfalls of showing his hand too early.
