What do you think is most likely to be taking them so long?

Hardware/software/other technical aspects:

  • keeping their software in sync with new hardware - obviously (?) it’s going to be a 64-bit game, but maybe there are other aspects to it, for instance, adapting the maximum quality of textures, meshes, shaders, animations and what have you to be appropriate for today’s computing power (CPU, GPU, new PCIe standards, etc), considering how long ago the game’s development began.
  • game engine - are they making something from scratch, reusing older assets or “borrow” for instance UE5?
  • other?

World building aspects:

  • there are tons of loose ends to tie up or to build upon from previous games - did they not have plans for a sixth game when Skyrim released and thus were left clueless on how to develope the story? Most unlikely…
  • are they taking time trying to incorporate fan theories and stories?
  • resolving contradictions from previous games?
  • other?

Political aspects:

  • the acquisition by Microsoft?
  • internal strife?
  • budget?
  • other?

Other aspects:

  • “simply” fine tuning to achieve perfection?
  • all of the above?
  • none of the above?

Context: I have never ever participated in game development ✌️

  • ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world
    3·
    3 days ago

    The fact that they’re still making money off of Elder Scrolls online.

    It’s the same reason we don’t have gta6 and why we’ll probably never get another KotOR. Why would they make a new game when they’re still making money off subscriptions?

  • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
    9·
    3 days ago

    They forgot that they actually made Morrowind, and what made their games good. They even know it will flop because of Starfeild’s reception, and their complete vacuousness when it comes to any more original ideas.

  • Rikj000@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    15·
    4 days ago

    I highly doubt they started on TES 6,
    straight after TES 5 (Skyrim) released (2011).

    I think it’s taking so long,
    since they procrastinated working on it for so long…

    They where mostly focussed on milking TES through Online and re-releasing TES 5 an obscene amount of times, now they even re-released TES 4 (Oblivion), instead of putting in the time/effort/money for creating a new game.

    Working on Starfield also took a chunk of their time, however that game is badly received. What scares me is that on the TES 6 wiki page, they mention that it will be written in the same Creation Engine 2 as Starfield used.

    https://wikiless.tiekoetter.com/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls_VI

    The wiki does mention it has been in pre-production since 2018, which still seems doubtful to me.

    • zikzak025@lemmy.world
      7·
      4 days ago

      I think the Starfield engine was…fine. Not amazing, but it was probably the least buggy game at launch they ever put out.

      I’d worry more about the gameplay loop and quality of writing. That’s where Starfield tanked, and that’s what will end up killing Elder Scrolls 6 if they don’t make improvements.

  • zikzak025@lemmy.world
    10·
    4 days ago

    Guessing it didn’t enter full production until after Starfield, which itself had a delayed launch. Bethesda has a lot of money, especially under Microsoft, but their core studio (BGS) is still a comparatively small team, likely no A-team/B-team development pipeline.

    I’m guessing development of the game is well underway at this point, maybe aiming for a release in the next couple of years. But development is always a dice roll of whether a project goes smoothly and launches on time or if speedbumps might necessitate changes in plans.

    Despite the “trailer” for Elder Scrolls 6 that is already 8 years old at this point, Bethesda typically does not start hyping their projects until they’re fairly close to completion (e.g. Fallout 4, first trailer in June 2015, release in November 2015). Starfield was intended to be similar, with its first real trailer (something more than just a title card) in 2021 and a planned release in 2022, though the release was delayed a year by Microsoft for polishing, which I am guessing it desperately needed.

    The Elder Scrolls 6 title card reveal, from that same showcase where Starfield got its token title card reveal, was more of a statement of commitment that the series wasn’t dead, not necessarily to show off the results of a project in process. So I’d anticipate that when we do actually see some tangible material from Elder Scrolls 6, its release date will not be too far off. You know, barring delays. But that’s maybe the only optimistic thing I can say about the game right now.

    • emotional_soup_88@programming.devOPEnglish
      3·
      4 days ago

      Despite the “trailer” for Elder Scrolls 6 that is already 8 years old at this point […]

      I did not need to hear that.

      Also, great perspectives! Thanks!

      • zikzak025@lemmy.world
        4·
        4 days ago

        Don’t worry, I also died a little bit inside just when looking up the dates to make sure I was remembering correctly! Definitely a moment feeling like that Saving Private Ryan gif.

        There were 17 years between the release of Elder Scrolls 1 (1994) and Elder Scrolls 5 (2011).

        It’s coming up on 15 years since the release of Elder Scrolls 5, and still no release date for Elder Scrolls 6 in sight.

  • MurrayL@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11·
    4 days ago

    It’s taking so long because:

    • game development is hard
    • ES6 is enormous in scope
    • they’ve been working on other things (Starfield, ESO) at the same time

    We won’t know specifics unless we get a postmortem or a Bethesda dev drops by to spill the tea, but ultimately it boils down to those factors.

  • Alcyonaria@piefed.worldEnglish
    10·
    4 days ago

    Probably had to scrap parts since starfield flopped. Teso also changed a lot of the plot points they could’ve used for the game.

  • kbal@fedia.io
    6·
    4 days ago

    Given the unreasonably large amount of money that Skyrim brought in I guess Todd is planning something really expensive and large-scale. These things do take time, and they’ve been busy doing other things. The disaster that was Fallout 76 for example wasn’t anywhere near finished until well after its official release date, and then Starfield was just a couple of years ago. Maybe they can learn from the past?

    Unfortunately I think the odds are against TES6 being as good as we’d hope for. Even before the acquisition, most of the people who made The Elder Scrolls what it was have long since left the company. But you never know, I guess. Maybe we’ll get super lucky and it will turn out like Skyrim: Huge potential, fundamentally flawed but fixable by modders.

    • fartsparkles@lemmy.world
      2·
      3 days ago

      Who are you referring to when you mention most of the people have left?

      Todd Howard, Craig Walton, Matthew Carofano, Christiane Meister, Scott Franke, Ahn Hopgood, Steve Meister, Gary Noonan, Guy Carver, Brian Chapin, Juan Sanchez, Josh Jones, Ashley Cheng, Todd Vaughn, and more worked on everything at least since Morrowind until today.

      It’s quite surprising how little brain drain they’ve had to be honest. It also explains why their game design is dated - it’s been the same bunch tinkering in Gamebryo/Creation for the past 25 years.

      • kbal@fedia.io
        1·
        2 days ago

        I don’t actually know anything about it, was just going on vague memories of stuff I read on a some blog post years ago. Although “since Morrowind” is a long way from the beginning. I hope they’re all having a great time doing that tinkering.

    • emotional_soup_88@programming.devOPEnglish
      2·
      4 days ago

      I’m dreaming of an ES6 with music like Oblivion and the feel of Skyrim.

      But yeah I’m endlessly grateful for and to the modding community😍