Fallout 5 Officially Confirmed as Bethesda Prioritizes The Elder Scrolls 6 While Expanding the Fallout Universe

Bethesda has officially confirmed Fallout 5 is in preproduction while The Elder Scrolls 6 remains the studio's biggest priority. The company also revealed Fallout remasters, new Fallout projects with Obsidian, Starfield updates, and its next-generation Creation Engine 3.

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Finally, the creators of the largest game franchises have offered their players an eagerly awaited message about the future of the games. According to the note of Todd Howard, the director of Bethesda Game Studios, Fallout 5 is already in preproduction, while The Elder Scrolls 6 is the main project that Bethesda is working on now. This news comes as quite a surprise as Bethesda announces its future plans at the time when the whole Xbox company faces restructure and massive layoffs within its gaming division.

However, the developers of Fallout, Starfield, and The Elder Scrolls are not going to give up on any of their games and are ready to move forward.

Fallout 5 Enters Preproduction

After much discussion and rumor, Bethesda has finally made official that preproduction for Fallout 5 is officially underway. Although years away from hitting shelves, the announcement brings relief to fans in knowing that the next entry into the series is in the works.

According to Todd Howard, Fallout 5 is the vision that Bethesda has for the future of the franchise. But the bulk of the team will be concentrating on finishing The Elder Scrolls 6 before beginning work on Fallout 5.

Bethesda hasn’t released any information about when to expect Fallout 5 or any other details about the game at this time.

The Elder Scrolls 6 Remains Bethesda's Biggest Priority

Whereas Fallout fans were finally given some positive news, Bethesda made it clear that the most important game for the company is still The Elder Scrolls VI.

As explained by Howard, almost all of Bethesda Game Studios staff is working on the highly-anticipated follow-up to Skyrim at the moment. The new game is created with the help of the recently-developed Creation Engine 3, and Howard mentioned that the developers play the game daily at the moment.

Howard admitted the fact that it was such a long time since Skyrim's release, which occurred almost 15 years ago. More than 65 million copies of Skyrim were sold around the world.

Creation Engine 3 Will Power Bethesda's Next Generation of RPGs

Among the most important revelations was the announcement of the Creation Engine 3, which is the latest version of Bethesda's platform created after the release of Starfield.

The updated engine brings many advancements in terms of rendering, development and game mechanics. Moreover, this allows several Bethesda teams to develop their games at the same time, avoiding the bottlenecks that used to delay new titles.

The new Creation Engine 3 will be the base for the development of The Elder Scrolls VI and Fallout 5.

Bethesda Confirms Multiple Fallout Projects Are Already Underway

The fifth Fallout isn't the only expansion of the post-apocalyptic world.

Todd Howard revealed that Bethesda at the moment has several Fallout projects under development. Among them there is a completely new Fallout game which is being created in cooperation with Obsidian Entertainment that is responsible for the popular Fallout: New Vegas.

Despite the fact that Bethesda didn't say much about the secret project, the information becomes evidence for all those reports in the industry concerning the cooperation of the two studios.

For true Fallout fans, such cooperation might become one of the most exciting events for many years.

Fallout 3 and Fallout

The Bethesda developers did not ignore the increasing fans' demand to relive the earlier games in the Fallout series.

The company did not disclose any date of release but it stated that it had already been working on remasters of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas games. It means that these titles will get a modern look.

This news might be very pleasing for many players who dreamed of playing their favorite RPG games in the modern version.

Fallout 76 Continues Growing with Raven Rock Expansion

It has become quite evident that Bethesda has no plans on giving up on the development of Fallout 76 anytime soon.

In fact, the online role-playing game has been awarded almost 70 free updates, and millions of players still explore the land of Appalachia. In terms of the future, Bethesda has introduced a huge expansion pack named Raven Rock, which will come out next year.

The Raven Rock expansion pack will be a prequel to Fallout 3.

Fallout 4, Fallout Shelter and TV Series Continue Breaking Records

There were also noteworthy achievements from Bethesda regarding the Fallout series.

The Fallout 4 game that just turned ten years old is still going strong with over 35 million units sold across the world. Meanwhile, Fallout Shelter has more than 250 million players across the globe, making it the most played mobile game in the Fallout franchise.

Bethesda also revealed some information about the Fallout TV show universe. Bethesda announced that Amazon Studios and Kilter Films have been developing an unscripted TV show based on the Fallout Shelter game. Additionally, Fallout Season 2 has received 10 Emmy award nominations, with Season 3 currently in production.

Starfield Will Continue Receiving Major Updates

Despite shifting attention toward The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, Bethesda reassured players that Starfield remains an important part of its future.

The space RPG has now attracted more than 17 million players, who have collectively logged nearly one billion gameplay hours.

As the game enters its third year, Bethesda plans to deliver:

• New story content

• Gameplay improvements

• Additional updates

• New Starborn content next year

• Continued investment in the Creations ecosystem

The studio also revealed that over 40% of Starfield players already use community-created content, highlighting the growing importance of player-generated experiences.

Bethesda Highlights Growing Creator Community

Bethesda is making large investments in their modding community.

They recently stated that modders had made over $10 million from royalties using the Bethesda Creation platform. The program was first launched for Skyrim and now also includes Fallout 4 and Starfield, allowing users to monetize quality content.

Bethesda expects that user-generated content will continue to be important in the future of its games for many years to come.

Xbox Layoffs Cast Shadow Over Bethesda's Future

This comes just days after a massive restructuring of Microsoft's gaming arm, which is the biggest in Xbox's history.

Xbox chief Asha Sharma wants to cut about 3,200 people from Xbox, accounting for almost 20% of its gaming employees. More than 1,600 layoffs have occurred while more positions were scrapped through studio restructuring.

Though both Bethesda Game Studios and Obsidian Entertainment saw some of their employees laid off, the company is still developing on schedule.

The statement made by Todd Howard clearly describes Bethesda's future plans. Instead of concentrating on one RPG title after another, the company is creating an entire ecosystem based on three flagship game series - Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, and Starfield.

Given the simultaneous development enabled by the new engine, several Fallout titles under development, remasters of the old classic games, ongoing development of Starfield, and steady work on The Elder Scrolls VI, it seems like Bethesda is preparing itself for the next ten years of RPGs.

Although Fallout 5 is still far away from release, fans now have official confirmation that development on the next installment of their favorite post-apocalyptic series has already started.