Todd Howard says Fallout 5 is coming after The Elder Scrolls 6, if we all live that long
So… it’s going to be a bit.
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Hope you like Fallout 76, because it’s likely going to betheFallout game, maybe the only Fallout game, for the next decade. I aninterview with IGN, Bethesda’s Todd Howard stated that Fallout 5 will followThe Elder Scrolls 6, which is still in pre-production. It’s a long way off, in other words—just a twinkle in Todd’s eye.
The RPGs Bethesda made its name on are primarily developed by a single studio, which is why there are such large gaps between releases. It’s a different process thanActivision’s approach to Call of Duty or howUbisoftmakes Assassin’s Creed. The gaps are only getting longer as Bethesda’s games get bigger:
Bethesda announced The Elder Scrolls 6 in 2018, but cautioned it was still very far off. In the past four years, TES6 has only been referred to as in pre-production or the “design phase.”
“Elder Scrolls 6 is in pre-production and, you know, we’re going to be doing Fallout 5 after that, so our slate’s pretty full going forward for a while,” Howard told IGN today. “We have some other projects that we look at from time to time as well.”
It’s hard to imagine The Elder Scrolls 6 arriving before 2027 at the absolute earliest, which means Fallout 5 is likely a game for the early 2030s. If you’re not so into the online aspect of Fallout 76 and bummed that you’ll be a decade older once a new Fallout rolls around, Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda may be a saving grace. Microsoft now owns Fallout New Vegas developer Obsidian and inXile, two studios focused on making hardcore computer-first RPGs. It’s hard to imagine we won’t seesomethingnew with the Fallout name on it well before Fallout 5.
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Wes has been covering games and hardware for more than 10 years, first at tech sites likeThe WirecutterandTestedbefore joining the PC Gamer team in 2014. Wes plays a little bit of everything, but he’ll always jump at the chance to cover emulation and Japanese games.
When he’s not obsessively optimizing and re-optimizing a tangle of conveyor belts in Satisfactory (it’s really becoming a problem), he’s probably playing a 20-year-old Final Fantasy or some opaque ASCII roguelike. With a focus on writing and editing features, he seeks out personal stories and in-depth histories from the corners of PC gaming and its niche communities. 50% pizza by volume (deep dish, to be specific).
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