'Elder Scrolls 6' Release Updates and Features: Bethesda Committed to the Single-Player Experience

In an interview with The Guardian, Todd Howard, Bethesda's director and executive producer, and Pete Hines, the company's vice-president, talked about the company's vision and goals for the next few years and “The Elder Scrolls 6's” role in how to make it happen.

With Bethesda's E3 2018 announcement of “Fallout 76” as a fully multiplayer-focused title, fans are speculating that Bethesda may be jumping from the single-player experience train as so many other publishers and developers seem to be doing lately. While breaking away from the single-player formula is not new for Bethesda, which already has its own “The Elder Scrolls Online” MMORPG, fans are concerned how the publisher and developer known for single-player experiences will adapt to the modern challenges of the video game industry.

Amy Hennig, creator of Naughty Dog's “Uncharted” series, best described the challenges that faced single-player games in a past interview with Venture Beat. Hennig lamented the space that single-player games occupy in the current state of the gaming industry. For Hennig, the cost of production for current triple-A video games titles is so high that the single-player experience becomes less viable to take to market due to the limited replayability factor unless the industry innovates beyond its current sales practices.

This innovation is exactly what the Bethesda executives have committed to, stating that they see a place for the single-player experience to continue to grow.

Of Bethesda's six E3 2018 reveals, only one game, “Fallout 76,” was confirmed to be focused upon the multiplayer experience. A close second is "Wolfenstein Youngblood," which is to include a co-op multiplayer experience, effectively smaller in scale than Bethesda's ambitious "Fallout 76" project. Of the upcoming releases, Bethesda's new sci-fi property, “Starfield,” the upcoming “Doom Eternal,” “Rage 2,” and “The Elder Scrolls 6” will all be single-player experiences that Bethesda will have a chance to innovate with as part of their commitment.

For fans awaiting more news about the recently announced “Elder Scrolls” game, Todd Howard has stated that "Starfield" is more likely to be released first before The "Elder Scrolls 6" by virtue of being a project that's further along the development timeline.