This June, the teaser forThe Elder Scrolls 6will hit its seventh anniversary. First announced at E3 in 2018, Bethesda revealed everything fans ofThe Elder Scrollscould have wanted:confirmation that the follow-up toSkyrimwas in development. The 40-second trailer only featured sweeping landscape shots of what is likely the land of Tamriel and a title card reveal, but at the time, it was more than enough to generate hype across the internet. Now that well over half a decade has passed, I hope no other AAA game is ever revealed like this again.
Years have passed since that first teaser, and no news aboutThe Elder Scrolls 6has come out since. There have been a few updates that the game is still in development, but nothing substantial like a full title or release window. With so much time between the initial announcement and the game’s future (currently unknown) release date,it makes no sense why Bethesda made such a fanfare over a title nowhere close to ready. Teasing a game that’s so early in its development only serves to hype up fans and then leave them disappointed after years of silence.
TES 6 Teaser Released In 2018
Almost A Decade Has Passed Since The Short Teaser Came Out
Back in 2018, Todd Howard stepped out on the stage and announced that the studio was building towards its next game, which he said was “the game you’ve all been asking about”. This was, of course,The Elder Scrolls 6,and the reaction from the crowd was ecstatic.Shown off first with a sweeping landscape shot and epic music,The Elder Scrolls 6teaser had fans were ready for more content and information on what to expect. And for the last seven years, Bethesda has provided exactly zero new updates on the game.
To put this reveal in context, 2018’s E3 (an event thatno longer exists) announced, or updated fans, on a whole host of other major games. This includesDevil May Cry 5, Fallout 76, Halo Infinite, Ghost of Tsushima,andThe Last of Us Part 2.All of these major titles have long since been released, and the state of gaming now is radically different from what it was at the time, while the state ofTES 6is exactly the same.
Bethesda Has Been Quiet For Years
The Studio Has Been Mostly Silent On Development
The level of hype and excitement that came along with this teaser forThe Elder Scrolls 6is hard to overstate.The last game in the series,Skyrim, was released in 2011and has received endless ports and special editions since, so players were primed and ready for fresh content. Unfortunately, players hoping to play the game relatively soon would be left waiting for the better part of a decade, not only for the game, but for even a crumb of more news.
A few minor updateshave reassured fans that the game is still in development,there’s been no substantial news or even a general timeline for release. In the years since 2018, Bethesda has releasedFallout 76andStarfield,the latter of which was meant to be a new major IP and rather disappointingly fell flat upon release, thoughit has improved since then.The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remasteredrecently arrived from Bethesda and Virtuos as a surprise drop, representing the polar opposite of the approach taken with the sixth mainline game.
7 Years Is Far Too Long To Hear Nothing
Excitement Has Long Since Soured Into Disappointment
It’s always been clear that game development in the modern era takes a very long time. Creating entire worlds from the ground up is an enormous task that takes years to complete.GTA 6is the best example of a large-scale game with an extremely long development pipeline.WhileGTA 6has been subject to rumors and anticipation for years, its announcement schedule is far more reasonable, even with a delay to 2026 setting things back a bit.
Taking a long time to develop a game is understandable, butannouncing it seemingly so early in its production is a huge blunder. Creating hype for a product and then going mostly radio silent can only lead to frustration from fans and, eventually, disinterest. This approach to teasingThe Elder Scrolls 6is especially baffling since the final product will likely be wildly different from what the teaser revealed. While it was only a generic landscape shot and the title, the look and feel of the game might be completely different by the time it comes out.
