Bethesda's first IP in 25 years, proudly nicknamed "Skyrim in space" by CEO Todd Howard, became an unexpected disruption in the team's workflow. The studio was en route toward developing The Elder Scrolls 6 when Starfield became the priority title. Kurt Kuhlmann, a Bethesda veteran of more than 20 years who left the studio in 2023, says that after the studio released Fallout 4, the team could not wait to get started on The Elder Scrolls 6. 

However, then came the VR versions of Fallout 4 and The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, a remastered special-edition Skyrim version, and a Fallout prequel – Fallout 76, which was a soul-sucking experience for those on the project. The turnover rate on the team was far from healthy, as people would quickly leave due to being constantly overworked, as the developers confessed. Plus, there was a lack of communication and a lot of uncertainty around some of the most crucial parts of the development process. 

Earlier that year, Bethesda announced both The Elder Scrolls 6 and Starfield at the E3 2018 conference. It seemed only right that, after the discouraging downfall of Fallout 76, delivering a quality installment in the gamers' most-loved series from Bethesda would be the best decision. After all, at that point, it had been 7 years since the release of Skyrim. The team was fully ready to go into The Elder Scrolls 6 even before Fallout 76 came along, but the plans changed again. Todd Howard announced that the next title would be their brand new IP – Starfield. 

Kurt Kuhlmann, co-lead designer behind Skyrim, revealed that most team members were longing to start working on The Elder Scrolls. They wanted to work on the 6th title in the series instead of Fallout 76 and Starfield, and yet its development was put aside in favor of the new IP.

Starfield ended up being a hit-or-miss with the audience. While it received generally positive reviews, with most critics ranking it a solid 8/10, many players were left disappointed. Even though Starfield was marketed as "Skyrim in space", gamers noted that, compared to Bethesda's most popular titles, Starfield seemed bland, empty, and boring. Many commented that the whole game looked like a continuous copy-and-paste with repetitive quests and environments. Although Bethesda CEO Todd Howard described it as an ambitious game, saying it would become "the greatest space RPG ever made", the title did not live up to these expectations. 

On top of that, Starfield disrupted the decade-long development cycle the team was more than comfortable with. Before the sudden jumps between titles, Bethesda would switch between working on The Elder Scrolls and the Fallout series.

"It’s very nice to have that, 'Okay, now for something completely different', every few years, and it was something you could look forward to," said Kuhlmann. Starfield jumbled up the flow and pushed the development of The Elder Scrolls 6 even further.

That said, Bethesda is planning to launch the game no earlier than 2028. While you're mourning the unfair push of the title to the sidelines with us, subscribe to our Newsletter, join our 80 Level Talent platform, Discord, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, and Instagram, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

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