It has been seven years since The Elder Scrolls VI was announced, yet nothing has been shown. If you are still puzzled, you may have missed the signals. Todd Howard says the successor to Skyrim is still far away, and that distance is not panic; it is part of a deliberate strategy.

A few hours ago, conversation flared up again around Elder Scrolls VI, the follow-up to Skyrim. Todd Howard, one of Bethesda’s top leaders and director of the 2011 TES entry, reiterated that the new chapter is “still a long way off,” asked for “patience,” and told fans he does not want them to “feel anxious.” That sent followers of the franchise and the studio’s open worlds back to a familiar question: what happened in the seven years since the first announcement?

At Bethesda’s E3 2018 conference, a brief 30-second teaser rolled, everyone remembers: the camera drifted through clouds, a coastline appeared, and the logo of The Elder Scrolls VI closed the shot. It capped a jam-packed presentation that also featured Fallout 76, Rage 2, Doom Eternal, a Prey expansion, Fallout Shelter, and even the reveal of Starfield.

The Elder Scrolls VI reveal felt early at the time, especially because Starfield itself demanded a long production cycle, and the fantasy open world would only arrive after the spacefaring one. Howard said as much right after the show, “We thought it was time to say, yes, we’re making it, but The Elder Scrolls 6 will come after Starfield.”

Pete Hines, then the company’s president, added that the intent was “to give an idea of where we’re headed and what we’re working on.” In hindsight that tracks. The point, however, is that we players were not the only audience for that message, and that is where many critiques miss. Not because frustration about the “new Skyrim” is invalid, but because the announcement did exactly what it was supposed to do.

Consider that less than two years after signaling not only Elder Scrolls VI but a slate of projects, Microsoft acquired ZeniMax, Bethesda’s parent, for 7.5 billion dollars. It would be easy to call it conspiracy talk that Bethesda mapped out big tentpoles years ahead to look more attractive to a buyer. But internal emails surfaced during the Activision–Blizzard–King case shed a different light.

Tim Stuart’s email to Amy Hood and the Microsoft/Xbox leadership

One message from Tim Stuart, Xbox’s CFO, to Amy Hood, Microsoft’s CFO, copied in top gaming executives such as Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond, discussed a potential ZeniMax acquisition months before it became public. The memo outlined core reasons to pursue the deal, notably ZeniMax’s library, the opportunity to drive Game Pass usage, and to lift the subscriber base.

The kicker came in the final paragraph. Stuart’s internal valuation put ZeniMax at 10.5 billion dollars, twenty-nine percent above the price Microsoft paid only weeks later. Microsoft had been assessing the deal for some time, and the number was not tied to market price so much as to what they were prepared to spend shortly afterward.

Microsoft did not pay for Rage 2, the new Doom, or Fallout Shelter alone. It was not for Redfall, the publisher’s first outing that stumbled badly. It was not even for Hi-Fi Rush, Game of the Year–nominated yet followed by Tango’s closure. That money was primarily for Bethesda’s flagship RPGs, Fallout, Starfield, and yes, the next Elder Scrolls.

Source: 3djuegos