Bethesda discusses the future of The Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises, post layoffs

After almost two weeks of silence and speculation following the most recent Microsoft layoffs, Bethesda released a statement reassuring us that they are still working on The Elder Scrolls and Fallout (and also Starfield). This does put an end to the widespread speculation that the Fallout franchise was being taken away from Bethesda after the announcement that Obsidian would be working on a Fallout project. But there’s a lot coming up for Fallout from Bethesda, as well as continued work on Elder Scrolls 6 and Starfield — though the company stopped short of making specific promises about Fallout 5 and Elder Scrolls 6, so don’t expect to be playing them any time soon.

Here’s what’s coming up from Bethesda, which gives us a lot of news about Fallout and sparse details on other franchises.

Fallout 5, Fallout 3, and Fallout: New Vegas

Most of Bethesda’s announcement talks about the future of the Fallout series, which was much needed after furious rumors speculated that Bethesda would no longer be working on Fallout games. Since Obsidian announced most of its upcoming games were cancelled and instead the studio would be working on a new Fallout project, the internet has been filling silence with speculation. But Bethesda has now confirmed that the studio isn’t being replaced by Obsidian, but working alongside them on a new Fallout title. There’s no word on whether it will be a followup to New Vegas or a new story altogether, but after the latest season of the Fallout TV show, the Mojave may not be the right destination right now.

Bethesda also made it clear that the Obsidian Fallout game will not be Fallout 5. The next mainline game in the famous post-apocalyptic series is in preproduction right now at Bethesda. Unfortunately, that means it’s still in early development, so we’re unlikely to hear more about it for a while — but now we know that Fallout 5 exists (or will exist). After years of waiting for more Elder Scrolls 6 news (more on that in a minute), I’m fine with Bethesda not releasing a flashy trailer and then not talking about the game for a decade.

Two other long-rumored Fallout projects were also confirmed: Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas are both getting remasters. Though there’s no release date for either game yet, other tidbits of Fallout news may provide some clues. Fallout 76 has a major expansion coming next year that will be a prequel to Fallout 3, sending players to Raven Rock, the home of the Enclave in Fallout 3. There will also be a live Fallout Day celebration in Washington D.C. in 2027 to celebrate the franchise’s 30th anniversary — and 50 years before the bombs drop. Given the setting and the date, this would be a great time to launch a Fallout 3 remaster. And if the remaster is already in the works, that timing could be feasible.

So we may be heading to the Capital Wasteland and Raven Rock soon, but there’s no clue as to when we might see the New Vegas remaster or Fallout 5. Just know that they’re in development.

Still waiting for Elder Scrolls 6

Though The Elder Scrolls 6 announcement trailer is old enough to be a third grader, we still don’t know much about the game other than the fact that Bethesda is still working on it. Bethesda says that Elder Scrolls 6 is its “primary development focus” and that the majority of its staff is working on the game. We also learned that ES6 and Fallout 5 will both run on Creation Engine 3, a new version of Bethesda’s proprietary game engine (Starfield was built on Creation Engine 2).

It’s good to know that Bethesda is actively working on The Elder Scrolls, but there are still no concrete details on the next game or when it will be released.

Updates are still coming to Starfield

Starfield lacks the long history of The Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises, but Bethesda isn’t abandoning it, despite Microsoft’s push to focus on its most successful franchises. Still, Bethesda isn’t making any big promises for Starfield fans, only saying that the game is “an important part of our future” and it will continue to be updated with new stories and gameplay improvements. Though Bethesda promises new Starborn content next year, the studio is exceptionally vague on what that content might be, or where the franchise is heading.

Creation Club and fan-made content

Then there’s the Creation Club, Bethesda’s marketplace for fan-made content. Bethesda hypes how much new content players can find in the Creation Club, and touts that mod-makers have earned over $10 million in royalties from the program. While it’s great to see the growth of community content, it feels tone-deaf to talk about how much work has essentially been outsourced to fans in the wake of major layoffs at the studio. The fact that 40% of Starfield players are customizing their game with mods doesn’t feel like good news when many Creation Club mods are filling gaps in Bethesda’s games that could have been professionally handled by the studio’s own developers.

As someone who frequently buys paid mods on the Creation Club, I feel the work of creators should be acknowledged… but it doesn’t feel like it belongs in a discussion of the future of Bethesda’s games after the latest round of Microsoft layoffs. It’s not a great time for Bethesda to say “here’s what you players are making for us.” We want to know about what Bethesda is making for us, not the other way around.

That’s all, folks!

Bethesda’s announcement is sketchy on details for everything except Fallout, simply assuring us that the devs are definitely working on these other games, really! The tone of the statement felt like Bethesda had to step in and stop the Fallout rumors running rampant, and fast. But the lack of concrete details on any other games — is there absolutely nothing to say about Elder Scrolls 6 after eight years? — makes it ring hollow. It’s all vague promises in hope the fans stick around a little longer, even though no one knows how long that will be.

I guess as Bethesda implies, we will fill that time with fan-made content. And if that’s the case, here is a wonderful free mod from the great creator Elianora to express how we feel in light of recent layoffs.

Still, here’s to hoping that we do eventually see Fallout 5, Elder Scrolls 6, and more from Bethesda, but only time will tell when these much-anticipated games will be playable.