The Elder Scrolls 6 Map Tease Has Gamers Seriously Excited

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It is hard to believe that The Elder Scrolls VI was first announced back in 2018, meaning that it has been a whopping eight-years since Bethesda first unveiled the next entry in the much-loved RPG franchise. It is especially hard to believe because, since its announcement, details surrounding The Elder Scrolls VI have remained pretty scarce, with fans none the wiser as to when they can expect to get their hands on the major release.

Now, according to none other than Bethesda head Todd Howard, The Elder Scrolls VI‘s development has only now begun in earnest, with the studio only now turning its attention from Starfield. As such, the next The Elder Scrolls entry is nowhere near launch.

Nevertheless, Howard’s update on development for The Elder Scrolls VI was not all doom and gloom as the Bethesda head also had some more information to share about the upcoming RPG, especially surrounding its large open-world map. Built using Creation Engine 3, The Elder Scrolls VI is expected to push the boundaries of technological capabilities with improvements in world loading as just one example.

It is this world loading feature that has perked up the ears of fans, and as such, a discussion soon kicked off over on r/TESVI, with one user adding, “That’s something he’s also said on another occasion before, and frankly, I think it offers us big clues about what they’re working with. The “world loading” is the most noteworthy detail, in my opinion. With this update to Starfield adding a sort-of seamless planet-to-planet traversal, I think some of the lessons they’ve been learning on CE3 are being applied to Starfield, where possible.

“Perhaps they are indeed trying to minimize the number of loading screens as much as possible. “Data systems”, “content presentation” and “scalability” also may indicate how they want to tackle the way object permanence impacts what’s possible in a Creation Engine game, what information should be stored, what objects can be interacted with, that sort of thing.”

What Is Bethesda Cooking?

A landscape shot from The Elder Scrolls 6 teaser trailer.

Of course, The Elder Scrolls VI’s map remains a mystery to us all, with Bethesda not confirming its scale, regions, or familiar locations. However, with the news that world loading will be faster than ever, we can expect traversal to be a lot more seamless. As user irishgoblin added, “I know people’s first reaction will be “oh, sailing!”, but honestly my guess is it’s related to general map traversal: either through the return of athletics, levitation, or a functioning horse. Or at the very least, you’ll be able to run through cities without lag as you cross from one cell to another.”

However, with Starfield being criticized for its lack of content despite a large-scale open world, we hope that Bethesda will not make the same mistake twice. If The Elder Scrolls VI has multiple regions, the regions need to be full to the brim with quests, points of interest, NPCs, and features that make the world feel bustling and alive. After all, it is quality not quantity. Nevertheless, with the Bethesda RPG still being years away from release, it will be a long time until we find out if The Elder Scrolls VI has learned from the studio’s mistakes.