August 23, 2025 was the 30th anniversary of The Elder Scrolls, one of the most recognisable and beloved series in gaming. In celebration, developer Bethesda Game Studios released a graphic onsocial media, acknowledging the mainline entries (we don’t talk about Redguard) and giving us a snippet of information on the upcomingThe Elder Scrolls 6.
“Last but not least, yes, we are in development on the next chapter - The Elder Scrolls VI,” the graphic reads. “Even now, returning to Tamriel and playing early builds has us filled with the same joy, excitement and promise of adventure.”
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We’re all hoping for a triumphant return to Tamriel, but crucially, The Elder Scrolls 6 needs to be designed like a modern RPG, not a tired re-hashing of an old formula likeStarfield. Bethesda needs to understand what madeSkyrimso compelling while incorporating the last decade’s technological and design advancements.
Everyone has a soft spot for Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim but will people be satisfied with plastic unreactive NPCs in 2024? Starfield had a surprisingly robust narrative (out of character for Bethesda) but its characters still fell flat. You always get the sense that the characters in a Bethesda RPG exist to serve the player, rather than being individuals who have their part to play in an intricate story.
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This is a classic design philosophy and one Bethesda is stuck in. The studio is adept at environmental storytelling and creating worlds that are enjoyable to wander around in. The dynamism of Skyrim was a flourish, walking from point A to point B is still fun to this day. If Bethesda could preserve the good parts of its philosophy while fleshing out its characters, The Elder Scrolls 6 could be an all-timer.
We’re going to be tired of comparisons toBaldur’s Gate 3in the coming years, but it is a game that is beloved because of how engaging its characters are. Through the combination of facial capture technology, fantastic voice acting and cinematic angles, Baldur’s Gate 3 is second to none in characterisation. It’s probably going to be a typical argument, but Bethesda could learn from Larian in these respects.
I don’t buy the counter-argument that Bethesda fans don’t care about characters or narrative, either. Skyrim’s most high-effort character Serana is wildly popular among players, her voice acting from the terrific Laura Bailey remains a treat, she’s more reactive than any of Skyrim’s other companions and she has input on what’s happening in the world.
Systems, But The Wrong Systems
Bethesda has always been a studio that’s focused on systems. We saw this with Starfield, all of the game’s marketing centred on how ‘cool’ the number of planets was, how dynamic the lighting was going to be, and how ship customisation is completely modular (that is pretty cool, to be fair). With Elder Scrolls 6, the studio should keep that energy but invest significantly in its narrative and characters, also.
Despite being “Bethesda’s biggest launch of all time,” Starfield is a cultural flop. Nobody is going to be discussing Starfield on par with Skyrim in the coming years and that’s because the studio stripped awaythe best elements of its previous gamesand invested time in the wrong areas. Ultimately, Bethesda creates roleplaying games, and what are RPGs without characters, narrative and well, roleplaying?
Nirn is an interesting universe, with intriguing (often incomprehensible) lore. It’s time to lean into that with deeper characters and a more reactive world. I don’t want to be the Archmage, Dark Brotherhood Listener, the Grey Fox and Guildmaster without someone saying something about it. I don’t want the characters I spend the most time with to be low-effort copy/pastes of other generic NPCs, I want to feel a connection to these people.
These are the innovations Bethesda should be putting manpower on, I don’t care how the light glimmers off the dew-laden grass at dawn.
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