Pete Hines, Bethesda‘s marketing vice president, explained the publisher’s decision.

GameSpot interviewed him at PAX Australia, where he explained why they announced Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI, both next-gen titles (PlayStation 5? Xbox Scarlett?), before the launch of Fallout 76:

„[The Elder Scrolls VI] is big and it’s ambitious, but also … the most important thing to underscore is that the timeline between products that you get from BGS is not any different than it has been historically just because we’ve talked about two games after Fallout 76. I try hard to manage people’s expectations. It’s not like ‘Fallout 76 this year, Starfield next year, and then The Elder Scrolls VI the year after.’ The timeline isn’t any different. What’s different is just trying to be transparent and say, ‘Don’t freak out, the next thing we’re doing is single-player [in Starfield], [and] we are making The Elder Scrolls VI.

Would it have been better if it was some years from now and we go, ‘Surprise, we’re making a game called Starfield, and it’s out X months later?’ Yeah. For sure. But at the same time, there is also value in every day between there people aren’t freaking out about us making Fallout 76 as an online-only game as a service and this is all they’re ever making. Take a deep breath; you’re going to be OK. We’re going to make some stuff you’re going to love.”

Let’s hope so – the two games are going to launch on the next Xbox and PlayStation, as well as the PC, and we wouldn’t even guess their release dates…

Source: WCCFTech