Todd Howard says Bethesda showed Elder Scrolls 6 early to ‘inform our audience’ despite years of silence
Howard told IGN the short 2018 E3 teaser was a communicative, business-driven move and that he prefers announcements closer to when players can actually play.
Bethesda first revealed The Elder Scrolls 6 with a brief teaser at E3 2018, and nearly eight years later the clip still hangs over the franchise. Bethesda director Todd Howard told IGN the studio put that teaser out partly to manage expectations and answer questions about its single-player roadmap.
In an interview with IGN, Howard joked, “Just pretend we didn’t announce it. Doesn’t exist. No one’s heard a word.” He explained the decision more seriously, saying that sometimes you need to “inform people” and that there are “business considerations” that push a studio to show something before it’s close to playable.
Howard said he would prefer to compress the announcement and release window so those two moments line up more often. He used the recent Oblivion remaster timeline as an example of a cleaner reveal-to-release cadence. Howard also admitted Bethesda wrestles with timing, balancing major projects such as Fallout, Starfield, and The Elder Scrolls 6 across the studio’s resources, and that the team would benefit from having many more developers to spread the workload.
The remark echoed other recent comments from Bethesda leadership that the next Elder Scrolls remains a long-term project rather than an imminent release. Todd Howard previously described the game as “a long way off” in earlier remarks available on our site.
Howard’s explanation frames the 2018 teaser as a communication move meant to keep fans and the industry informed, even if the reveal has since become a source of impatience for some players. The interview confirmed that the studio prefers quieter, more tightly timed announcements when possible, but said practical realities sometimes force different choices.
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The Elder Scrolls VI
Developed by Bethesda Game Studios
