Bethesda Game Studios will return to the role-playing formula that defined its earlier successes with The Elder Scrolls 6, according to studio director Todd Howard. The announcement comes as Bethesda shifts away from the development approaches taken with its more recent titles, Fallout 76 and Starfield.
Howard, speaking on the Kinda Funny Gamescast, characterized the development of Fallout 76 and Starfield as a period of experimentation that moved away from the core tenets of Bethesda’s established RPG design. He described these games as representing “a little bit of a creative detour” from the style of gameplay found in earlier Elder Scrolls and Fallout titles, where player exploration and interaction with the game world are central.
“We are coming back to that classic style that we’ve missed, that we know really, really well,” Howard said, signaling a renewed focus on the immersive, single-player experiences that have long been a hallmark of Bethesda’s operate. This return to form is anticipated by many fans who have expressed a desire for a more traditional Bethesda RPG experience following the online focus of Fallout 76 and the expansive, but structurally different, nature of Starfield.
The shift in direction acknowledges a period of divergence for the studio. Starfield, released in September 2023, represented Bethesda’s first new intellectual property in 25 years, and while commercially successful, it differed significantly from the open-world exploration typically associated with The Elder Scrolls series. Similarly, Fallout 76, released in 2018, introduced multiplayer elements to the traditionally single-player Fallout franchise, receiving a mixed reception from players.
News of the stylistic return to classic Bethesda RPGs follows reports that The Elder Scrolls 6 is being developed in the studio’s “classic style,” according to multiple sources. The game is currently in active development, though Bethesda has not yet announced a release date.
