Summary

• Bethesda Studios hinted at The Elder Scrolls 6 release on the 30th anniversary of the franchise.
• Information on the highly anticipated game remains scarce, leaving fans eager for more updates.
• The Elder Scrolls series has evolved through the years, with each installment making significant changes.

On March 25, Bethesda Studios celebrated the 30th anniversary of their premier fantasy franchise, dropping a hint about the release of The Elder Scrolls 6. In 1994, the studio released The Elder Scrolls: Arena, which spurred a long-lasting franchise of highly-rated titles. With the last mainline game having been released in 2011, eager fans of the series anticipate more news about the sequel to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Information about The Elder Scrolls 6 is sparse. Even significant questions like the region of Tamriel that players will access have been hidden. However, Executive Producer Todd Howard stated in 2018 that the studio was working on the game with an announcement trailer. On March 25, Bethesda shared a brief comment on the state of the game in its 30th anniversary message celebrating Arena and the franchise.

The Anniversary Of Arena Brings News On The Elder Scrolls 6

In a tweet by Bethesda, they confirmed that they are working on The Elder Scrolls 6. That was not the only piece of information that the studio released. They noted that "playing early builds has us filled with the same joy, excitement, and promise of adventure." In a good sign by the developers, it appears that they enjoy latest iteration of the Elder Scrolls, capturing some of the magic of the earlier games.

Bethesda Studios also conducted a retrospective on their franchise within the tweet. They showcased some of their mainline games' accomplishments and highlighted some of their latest releases, including the recently announced mobile game Elder Scrolls: Castle. In the typical Bethesda fashion, players will probably need to wait until Elder Scrolls 6 is closer to release before learning about the setting and period of the game.

A Look Back At 30 Years Of Revolutionary Fantasy Gaming

As players wait with bated breath for more news about The Elder Scrolls 6, they can marvel and experience past games of the series and celebrate the 30th anniversary of Arena. Released in 1994, the game won Computer Gaming World's RPG of the Year. The hero follows the story of Emperor Uriel Septim VII and his betrayal by the Imperial Battlemage Jagar Thorn. While the game may appear archaic in 2024, it sets the lore and story that players experience in Elder Scrolls games today.

Both The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall and Arena allowed players to explore a truly massive world through their use of procedural generation. Within Bethesda's games, the scope of their worlds was only rivaled in size by Starfield. In examining the sheer scale of these earlier games, some have calculated that Daggerfall's in-game map is around 61,000 square miles (160,000 square kilometers), or about the size of the country Suriname.

The release of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind in 2002 sharply contrasted with the procedurally generated Tamriel of its predecessors. Bethesda gained its reputation for hand-crafted worlds and environmental storytelling as players investigated the mysteries of the Sixth House and Dagoth Ur. Morrowind simplified and improved many facets of gameplay from its predecessors, including skill systems to storytelling. Bethesda's financial situation might have spurred the wildly different settings and gameplay in Elder Scrolls III. According to Kotaku, the studio might have shut down if Morrowind had failed to succeed commercially.

A New Era For The Elder Scrolls

Each iteration of the franchise continues to change and tweak the series. Morrowind ushered in the age of modding, bolstered by the subsequent releases of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Skyrim. These games altered the mechanics of each of their predecessors and improved the overall ease of access to a broader audience. Due to their quality, these games have entered the firmament of classic and beloved games with immense staying power. According to a leak, fans of the Empire and Cyrodil should be excited, as Oblivion might be remastered next.

As one of Bethesda's most anticipated titles, the studio must work hard to meet lofty expectations for the next Elder Scroll game. The game's existence has been teased since the trailer was released at the 2018 Electronic Entertainment Expo, building the hype around the game to an insane level. Unfortunately, fans will need to wait a bit more to see what the Elder Scrolls 6 will offer to the franchise.

Source: Bethesda, Kotaku