In his interview with GQ, the head of Bethesda Game Studios (BGS) touched on several topics, which we’ve tried to summarize here.

BGS’s next major project within the Fallout franchise is reportedly the long-rumored Fallout 3 remaster, which leaked two years ago. In the interview, Todd Howard, the director and executive producer at BGS, discussed the necessity of rebooting the creative aspects of the Elder Scrolls (TES) and Fallout series. While the next TES installment was announced at E3 2018, the next Fallout game has not yet been confirmed. Currently, hundreds of people are working on Fallout at BGS, some of whom are also involved in other projects. According to VGC, one such project is the Fallout 3 remaster, similar to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered.

Fallout 3 Remastered was never officially announced. In September 2023, files related to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) investigative hearing with Phil Spencer were leaked online. The files revealed Bethesda’s internal plans for 2020–2024. Among the projects scheduled for release between April 2024 and March 2025 was a Fallout 3 remaster. However, since these plans were made before the pandemic, they have changed significantly. Starfield and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle were released later than originally planned. The Fallout 3 remaster will likely use Unreal Engine 5 for rendering and the original engine for gameplay, similar to Ninja Gaiden 2 Black and Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater did, and as Halo: Campaign Evolved will.

A decade has passed since the release of Fallout 4, and one of the most important lessons BGS has learned is that Mass Effect–style cinematic dialogue systems don’t fit their games. In the interview, Howard was asked which game he thought was the best he had worked on. He pointed out features from various games and mentioned that some things didn’t resonate with players. He revealed that the dialogue system in Fallout 4 was one of those things. They worked hard on it. How can you create interesting, interactive dialogue that is fun to play? It didn’t resonate. It was also difficult for the designers to write. According to Howard, it clashed with players’ imaginations. Players want more role-playing, yet the protagonist had only one voice. The actors were phenomenal, but many players said this wasn’t the voice they’d imagined. This is probably why Bethesda returned to a more traditional dialogue system for Starfield.

At the beginning of the interview, Howard stated that The Elder Scrolls VI is still a long way off and asked fans to be patient. He acknowledged that it has been 14 years since the release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. They recently conducted a major game test. You really have to look at the screen and ask yourself what the game is, what it needs, and where it is in development. In his opinion, great games aren’t made; they’re played. The screen doesn’t lie. It seems that the team showed The Elder Scrolls VI to some fans who raised money through Make-A-Wish to honor a deceased friend in the game they are developing. This isn’t the first time Bethesda has done something like this. They recently showed the game to members of the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages, who left excited about the game, which was still in development at the time.

Howard said he believes the ideal way to release a highly anticipated RPG is to release it after a certain amount of time. He can’t guarantee that this will happen. However, when asked about the sudden release of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, he noted that you could say it was a test and that it worked. Rumor has it that the game could be released in late 2027 or 2028.

Source: WCCFTech, WCCFTech, PCGamer, GQ