Fans have been waiting a long time for more news on The Elder Scrolls 6. Nearly two years, to be exact. But according to Bethesda Senior VP of Marketing and Communications, Pete Hines, they should prepare to wait a lot longer. 

New info won't be released any time soon. 

Responding to a recent tweet, Hines said that details on the highly-anticipated sequel to The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim won't start trickling out until after the launch of Starfield, the studio's next game. 

"It's after Starfield, which you pretty much know nothing about. So if you're coming at me for details now and not years from now, I'm failing to properly manage your expectations."

Starfield was first announced alongside The Elder Scrolls 6 during Bethesda's E3 2018 presentation. All we really know about Starfield so far is that it's set in space, it's an RPG, and that it's been in development "for years," according to Director of Bethesda Games Todd Howard. 

Howard has also said that like The Elder Scrolls 6, fans will need to be "patient" for more Starfield news, too. With that in mind, it seems we'll all be waiting well beyond 2020 for TES 6 info, indeed. 

As always, stay tuned to GameSkinny for more Bethesda news, including that for Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6, as we learn it. 

Bethesda announced plenty of stuff at their big E3 2018 presentation Sunday night, but for a certain segment of their audience, no announcement was bigger than the confirmation that yes, Bethesda is working on Elder Scrolls VI.

It was also the biggest case of pure damage control of the entire sordid weekend. It was, flat out, an admission of defeat and a sign that they knew that Fallout 76 would go over like a fart in church with their fanbase.

The Internet exploded when Todd Howard said that “every other character will be a live human being”, referring to 76's DayZ/Ark/Rust-like online survival gameplay.

After all, if you want to find something more toxic than nuclear fallout and Forced Evolutionary Virus combined, the player community in online survival fits the bill.

Searching the #SavePlayer1 hashtag on Twitter pretty well sums up the reaction.

The best single player franchise literally was just ruined. #saveplayer1

— Atrophical (@Atrophical) June 11, 2018

Can't believe you guys sold out like this. Couldn't resist the sweet money that 'Games as a service' provided other publishers?

Thats fine but why sacrifice a single player franchise like Fallout to do it?#SavePlayer1

— Ryumoau (@Ryumoau_Juno) June 11, 2018

Enter an announcement for a singleplayer experience. Bethesda knew.

Everyone: Crying #SavePlayer1 over Fallout 76
*Bethesda 5 minutes later* #ElderScrollsVI pic.twitter.com/ZKzZmyJZCS

— J RING 🐺 (@JR1NG) June 11, 2018

More than once in the past, Howard has been a big proponent of the short hype cycle.

Fallout 4 was announced at E3 2015; it released just four months later.

Fallout 76 will be out this fall, another super-short hype cycle, plus Bethesda's already taking sign-ups for the public beta.

It's clear that Bethesda's operating strategy is to keep the jackals in the gaming press at bay; they don't want to waste precious development time constantly stoking the hype machine. Because as Extra Credits pointed out in one of their videos, as soon as you commit to that road, you're committing to wasting a lot of development resources. You're spending more time making playable demos and creating video mashups for E3 or PAX or GDC or wherever else than you are creating a tight, focused experience that will actually be in retail stores and on Steam come launch day.

So why did Bethesda announce Elder Scrolls VI? Why throw away one of their biggest competitive advantages in terms of being able to manage the hype cycle and keep their development dollars spent on stuff that's actually going into the finished game rather than press demos that rarely end up producing any usable assets for the game itself?

Damage control. They angered their fans, and in order to keep those fans from descending into open revolt, beating up their brand so badly that by the time TESVI is ready for actual launch—and, with the game in pre-production, that could be 2021 or later—their former fans won't even care about them anymore and will therefore have no desire to pre-order? A lot can happen in three years, and “just another EA” as brand perception risks permanent “never again” customer loss.

Bethesda knew what they were doing. They were, in essence, condensing 1985 for the Coca-Cola Company into one hour.

Fallout 76 is New Coke in this instance. If Twitter loved it, if the reaction was universally positive, if everything was just ducky, Todd Howard and Pete Hines would've been more than willing to stand and fight on the hill, hyping up 76 and making it the centerpiece of the entire gaming news cycle.

And, of course, 76 wasn't a complete failure; plenty of the kinds of gamers who like the Fallout mythos and prefer their games to be online with others rather than the solitary pursuit that previous entries in the series are have been more than willing to rally to the Vault Boy banner.

But there was a supercritical mass of people who hated the news. And the people at Bethesda, who had TESVI as their “Coca-Cola Classic Card”, decided to play it.

Todd Howard would've preferred to sit on “Skyrim 2” for years until the game was ready. Sure, he'd coyly refused to comment on the game, even occasionally looking annoyed that he'd been typecast as the “Elder Scrolls and Fallout guy.”

No creative person likes being typecast, not if they're an RPG developer or if they're a sportswriter who took a video game gig in part to write about something other than scurrilous rumors about LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.

But when push comes to shove, that's what Bethesda's brand is.

And for that reason, they announced The Elder Scrolls VI, coming forever and an age from now to a PC, console, phone, tablet, smart home personal assistant, handheld, and refrigerator near you.

It was damage control. Bethesda knew the reaction to Fallout 76 was going to be severe, and the only way to keep the community in line was to announce a new Elder Scrolls at the same time. It's just too perfect.

Going into E3 2018, Bethesda's press conference was one of the most hotly-anticipated keynotes of the entire show. With surprise pre-show reveals for both Rage 2 and Fallout 76 landing in May, Bethesda gave fans, critics, and journalists alike plenty of reasons to get hyped. 

So like rapt little lemmings, we all did the only thing there was to do: we tuned in. 

Thankfully, we were all right in thinking this showcase was going to have some truly killer trailers. Bethesda kept things moving fast; they showed lots of trailers and (mostly) kept the pontificating to a minimum. On top of the trailers, there were also some big (BIG) reveals. And we got a lot more info on both Rage 2 and Fallout 76. 

Here's everything you need to know if you (somehow) missed the livestream. 

Elder Scrolls 6

We got an Elder Scrolls 6 reveal. Holy shit. We have a teaser trailer. I repeat we have a teaser trailer. You can view it above.

We don't have a release date yet, but it's coming, folks. It's freaking coming. 

Fallout 76

Fallout 76 will release on November 14. 

First revealed on May 30, we finally got confirmation that Fallout 76 is, in fact, an entirely online open world survival RPG. You can play it solo, experiencing a story and leveling up by completing quests and other normal wasteland activities. However, the big draw is teaming up with a group of friends and exploring the wasteland. 

And to make things fit even more with the Fallout ethos, there won't be hundreds or thousands of players running around the wasteland at a single time. Instead, there will be only "dozens" of players in a given instance.  

Earlier in the day, another Fallout 76 trailer was shown during the Microsoft conference. There, Bethesda's Todd Howard said that the game would be a prequel set 25 years after the first bombs dropped. He also confirmed that the game would take place in the Appalachian Moutains of West Virginia -- and that it would be "four times bigger" than Fallout 4. 

But at Bethesda's press conference, we were shown more of the game. 

Players will find themselves emerging from one of the very first vaults to open up after the bombs fell. With a brand-new gameplay trailer, we got to see what the game will actually play like. I won't even try to steal the other awesomeness and beauty of it from you. You can view it above.  

Fallout 76 will employ all new rendering tech to achieve 16x the detail for the environment and weather across the map when compared to Fallout 4. And new Fallout creatures will make their debuts in Fallout 76, many of which not only look completely amazing, but ones that also use the real-life folklore of West Virginia as inspiration. 

A series of "informational" videos was also shown that expanded on what we'll see in Fallout 76's gameplay -- and how some of the game's systems work in multiplayer. You'll be able to team up with friends and create camps and settlements complete with all the accouterments you'll need to explore and conquer the wasteland. You can build wherever you want and move your settlements and camps wherever you want.

Additionally, there will also be multiple atomic missile sites peppered around the Fallout 76 map. In the vein of player agency, you can literally do whatever you want with them. You'll need to work with friends to acquire codes -- or take them off dead bodies -- to access the missiles that you can then launch on a rival camp ... or anything else you want to rain devastation upon. You'll be able to farm rare and valuable resources from the fallout areas. 

The game will feature 100% dedicated servers, and Bethesda is planning on supporting the game for years to come.  

There will be a Power Armor collector's edition that will feature a fully functional T-51 power armor helmet, an awesome glow in the dark map, figurines, and in-game bonuses. A price for the collector's edition was not revealed. Lastly, there will be a beta for the game, but no further details were revealed as of this writing. 

Rage 2

Many gamers were surprised when Bethesda announced Rage 2 back in May. Depending on what forums or social media networks you visited, you might know that a lot of fans weren't too keen on a followup to Rage, a game that met with mixed reviews when it was originally released. 

However, here we are nonetheless, talking about what we now know about the FPS sequel. But from what Bethesda has shown so far, the game doesn't look half bad. 

Following a live performance from Andrew W.K., the gameplay trailer above was shown. Player will find themselves in the shoes of Walker, the last ranger of the wasteland -- and someone who is, of course, going to save the world as he knows it.

Set against a dystopian backdrop, where the future is full of mangled and irradiated wasteland gangs, Rage 2 embraces its ludicrous nature and give players all the guns, powers, and vehicular combat they could want.

We're sure to see more of the game ahead of its Spring 2019 release.

Elder Scrolls Legends

Elder Scrolls Legends will be relaunching with improved visuals later this year. It will be coming to the Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One. 

That's basically it. The game is still the same kickass card game you've come to love -- just now on more platforms!  

Elder Scrolls Online

Named MMO of the year for the past three years, the Elder Scrolls Online has only gotten better in the last year, with the release of the Morrowind and Summerset DLCs greatly expanding the game.

Bethesda announced two brand-new DLCs -- both slated to come out some time this year. The first will be a dungeon-centric DLC named Wolfhunter. All we currently know is that it will "be based on werewolves." No other information was provided.

The other DLC will be story DLC set in Murkmire. This one will go into deep Argonian lore and culture. 

Yep, we're going back to Blackmarsh. 

Doom Eternal

It was just a trailer, but Doom guy facing off against hordes of demons and hellknights in a hellscape right here on Earth. Crushing skulls and pumping shotties, Doom guy  is ready to save the world (again). 

Doom Eternal will be a direct sequel to 2016's rebooted Doom. The Doom-slayer will be even more powerful this time around, facing off against twice as many demons than in the original game. 

A pure callback to Doom II: Hell on Earth, Doom Eternal will premiere in full at Quake Con in August. 

Prey 

If you haven't played Prey, you should do yourself a favor: stop reading this and go play it. 

And considering how good the game is and well players and critics alike have received it, there was little doubt it would be eventually receiving DLC. 

In fact, it's receiving two DLC packs. 

"Mooncrash" (a $19.99 add-on available right now) sees the player venture to the moon and fight mimics and all things that are bad. From the trailer above, it looks like a survival battle simulation gauntlet. It also looks like you'll probably die a lot. 

Then there's "Typhon Hunter", which features a tense MP mode of 1v5. Here, in what's essentially Extinction, one player goes toe to toe with five mimics, who can be anything in the game, creating a fierce game of cat and mouse.\

"Typhon Hunter" will be available later this summer, and it will support VR.

Wolfenstein

Starting things off, Wolfenstein 2 will be coming to the Nintendo Switch on June 29. 

However, that's not the biggest news of the night featuring our favorite Nazi killer.

Wolfenstein's next adventure will put players in the boots of BJ's twin daughters. Wolfenstein: Young Blood pushes the Wolfenstein story forward to the 1980s, where the future is a bleak and violent place.

It will be a co-op experience, where you can play solo but also with friends. Young Blood is set to release sometime in 2019

Lastly, Wolfenstein: Cyber Pilot will is a VR game currently in the works. The only information given was that players will be able to hack into Nazi units to save the world. 

Fallout Shelter

The mobile simulation game that's been played by 120 million people since its release three years ago, Fallout Shelter is about to see an influx of even more players. 

The big news is that the game will be coming to the PS4 and the Nintendo Switch -- right now. It's completely free.  

Elder Scrolls: Blades

Elder Scrolls: Blades is taking the franchise back to its roots in games like Elder Scrolls: Arena. Set to release for mobile devices this fall, players can currently sign up for early access at Playblades.com. It will be free to play. 

The game uses touch controls to move -- or those with dual sticks can use those as well. Procedurally generated dungeons and hand-crafted levels is set to bring the Elder Scrolls experience to a small screen -- but with a big bang. 

Blades will have several modes, such as The Abyss, a roguelike experience with endless dungeons, and The Arena, where players will do battle one on one with other players. 

What's more, there will be a story and quest mode that will employ a town hub. You'll be tasked with rebuilding your home town, upgrading structures, and decorating buildings. As your town levels, you'll get new NPCs and quests. 

Blades will be coming to phones every device Bethesda can get it on: PCs, consoles, VR on mobile, and high-end VR on PCs. All of the platforms will connect to each other, where, for example, mobile players can play against VR players.

Starfield

It's been 25 years since Bethesda developed a brand-new franchise. And in a look at the future of the company, Todd Harris showed that new IP during the company's presser.

The trailer starts out in space, with the camera looking down at the edge of a planet as a star peeks out from behind the bottom edge of the planet. A space station comes into view and the trailer ends as something appears to engulf the space station (or perhaps it goes into a type of hyperspace?).

Either way, the trailer looks great despite not knowing a single thing about it outside of the name and that it's probably set in space and some type of sci-fi RPG (yes, that last part is me just guessing).

There is no release date for Starfield at this time. 

---

Stay tuned to GameSkinny for more news and information on all of these games as they develop. 

So there you have it! Those are my predictions for Bethesda's E3 2017 showcase.

The picture above is the invitation that Bethesda sent out to the press for E3 2017, which depicts a theme park of all their titles: Doom, Quake, Fallout, Prey, Dishonored, The Elder Scrolls, and two locations under construction. This postcard was the basis for my predictions, as well as knowledge of the new studios. The two areas of construction I believe to be Wolfenstein and The Evil Within. If you think I'm wrong about that let me know in the comments!

Bethesda's E3 2017 showcase is shaping up to be a very exciting show. With a handful of known titles like Fallout VR and some big reveals to come, Bethesda will definitely give us plenty to be excited for moving forward.

What do you want to see announced at the show? What are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back here for more of our E3 predictions!

Make sure to check out our other E3 predictions: 

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• E3 2017 Microsoft Predictions
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• E3 2017 Nintendo Predictions
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• E3 2017 EA Predictions
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A New IP

Bethesda's 2017 E3 showcase could very well close out with The Evil Within or Wolfenstein, or maybe even Fallout VR, but I think we might see a glimpse of something new.

After last year's E3, Bethesda revealed that it has two new games in development that are on the same scale as Fallout, and neither is The Elder Scrolls VI. Todd Howard did confirm that a follow-up to Skyrim was in development, but it was a long, long ways off -- implying it may not even be this console generation!

So that leaves us with the two brand new games of which we know nothing about. We don't know how long either of these games has been in development, although Howard did say (in the same article linked above) that both titles would be announced before The Elder Scrolls VI. That leaves us to assume that we could see one of these new titles revealed this year. A new IP would be the perfect way to close the conference, even if it is just a trailer.

Wolfenstein: The New Colussus

The Wolfenstein series made a return in 2009 with a reboot. It was met with decent reviews, but the series was far from back to its iconic status.

So in 2013, when a sequel was announced by Bethesda, not too many people were on the edge of their seats. Wolfenstein: The New Order then released in May 2014 and received surprisingly great reviews. The game suffered from a flat-out bad first level, but from there on it was a fantastic shooter with great mechanics, an emotional story, impressive visuals, and a cliffhanger ending.

Last year at E3, Bethesda showed a fake cmd.exe screen with DOS language on it, which showed the names of a few Wolfenstein games throughout history and their release dates. Fans quickly pointed to an unknown title beneath The Old Blood, titled The New Colossus, with no release date. It seems inevitable this is the new game in the Wolfenstein series, which VP Pete Hines has called "fu*king bananas".

I would expect The New Colossus to play a major role at this year's E3, and I would also expect a release date for next year. I think both this and The Evil Within 2 are games we can expect to play soon -- but that's all speculation, we should find out the actual release dates on June 11.

Mobile Games

Two years ago, when Bethesda revealed Fallout 4 at E3, the company didn't want us to have to wait until November to play some Fallout. So they announced Fallout Shelter for iOS and Android. The game became a mega success for Bethesda, leading to a new game studio being opened in Montreal.

This new studio has not working solely on mobile games, but also on PC titles as well. It's been two years since the studio opened its doors -- and therefore we could very well see the first fruits of its labor. Bethesda made a point of saying that there is no plan in place release a mobile game alongside every major AAA release they put out, but that doesn't mean there aren't any mobile games at all coming in the next few years. 

I'm not sure what the next mobile game from Bethesda will be. The obvious option is another Elder Scrolls tie-in -- but I think not, especially considering that Elder Scrolls Legends just released. But maybe we'll see something akin to Hitman Go in the Dishonored universe?

Doom, Prey, Dishonored 2 & Quake Champions

Last year Bethesda released Doom and Dishonored 2, both to critical acclaim. This year, Prey was released, and I think it's fair to say we will see more of all of those games at this year's E3.

Doom is the outlier here because the team at ID may have moved on and we won't see anything for a while -- however, I believe the success and popularity of the game will lead to some more DLC. This was hinted at by Doom creative director, Hugo Martin, who said they were considering a single-player expansion a few months ago. Needless to say, this expansion could have been in the making for a while now and Martin is simply keeping things under wraps. Any reason to go back to Doom for more single-player action would be welcomed by fans and receive a big pop at E3.

Dishonored 2 and Prey are guaranteed to get some screen time at this year's show. These are the two most recent releases for Bethesda, and neither has received any DLC thus far. So we could expect to see expansions for both games.

Quake Champions was revealed at last year's E3. The classic arena-based shooter returned with frantic action and 60 frames per second. The game has been announced as free-to-play if you want to use one character, and it's available for purchase to unlock the whole roster. The is an odd route for Bethesda to go down, but it seems the publisher wants to explore payment models. Quake Champions is a lock for this year's E3 -- and I would also expect a release date!

The Evil Within 2

Here we have a foregone conclusion: The Evil Within 2 will be revealed at E3 and likely release next spring.

Rumors have been swirling for months about a sequel to the 2014 horror game from Resident Evil mastermind, Shinji Makami. The Evil Within sold surprisingly well and got solid reviews, leaving everyone to assume Tango Gameworks has been working on a sequel since 2014.

The Evil Within was a fairly early game for this console generation and it's quite noticeable at this point -- with a jarring frame rate, overly dark visuals, and some odd control choices. These are small details that will hopefully be rectified with the sequel, which has the potential to be a big horror game and a tentpole release next year.

Fallout 4 VR

Let's start off with a safe prediction. At last year's E3 showcase, Bethesda, much to the shock of the audience, revealed Fallout 4 for VR. The company has already announced that the game will make an appearance at E3, and will be playable on the show floor for the public.

Speaking about the Fallout VR experience, developer Todd Howard has called it mind-blowing and said fans won't believe how amazing it is. Of course this is probably PR talk, but the prospect of Fallout in VR is pretty enticing. There has yet to be any announced platforms for Fallout VR, but the game was said to be slated for release this year. Fallout 4 would be a massive boost for any of the VR platforms, but you have to imagine it would make an appearance on the most powerful hardware in that corner of the market right now -- the HTC Vive.

Last year Bethesda also revealed Doom for VR, so we can probably expect to see more of that, as well as a release date for Fallout. We could be in for a surprisingly VR-heavy showcase from Bethesda.

We're back with another E3 predictions list, and this time Bethesda is the focus!

Since its first outing in 2015, Bethesda has become a mainstay at E3, and we couldn't be happier about it. The publisher is a powerhouse in the industry, and has probably overtaken EA and Ubisoft as the most exciting third-party showcase at E3.

Last year, Bethesda released the critically successful (and fan-favorite) reboot of Doom, along with Dishonored 2. These two games were both very well-received, even if Dishonored 2 didn't sell well. This year, Bethesda has already released The Elder Scrolls: Legends, a card collecting game for phones, and Prey -- which received great reviews despite sub-par sales and some game-breaking bugs at launch.

This year, Bethesda sent out its invitation to the press which featured some teases for the show. The publisher clearly has a lot to exhibit ahead of its conference on Sunday June 11, and I'm going to run down a list of predictions that you can expect to see. 

During YouTube's Live at E3 stream, Bethesda Game Studios' Director and Executive Producer Todd Howard said in an interview that they are going to make an Elder Scrolls 6, but it may be a long time before it's released.

According to a tweet from Pete Hines, the Vice President of PR and Marketing at Bethesda, the game may not even be in development at this time.

@HotShame0 we aren't working on TES6 at the moment

— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) June 25, 2016

While this statement isn't 100% clear, it could possibly mean that the game is just in it's pre-production and planning stage, but this has not been confirmed.

Bethesda is busy working on two other large projects that will most likely be released before Elder Scrolls 6 is announced, and they are also making spin-off and mobile games. The Elder Scrolls Legends is a card game spin-off that's currently in the works and will be released for the iOS and PC later this year. There is also the Skyrim remaster, which will be released on October  28, 2016 for the PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. 

While we may not see Elder Scrolls 6 anytime soon, there's plenty of other upcoming Bethesda titles on the way.

Being the closest thing to a consistent column for me here on GameSkinny, to the delight of Fallout fans everywhere I've decided that it's high time to resume complaining about the settlement system in Fallout 4. However, I couldn't write an article based on Fallout 4 all on its own lest I be accused - again - of writing the same article twice!

So, in today's ramble, we'll be talking about the possibility of the settlement system rolling over into The Elder Scrolls VI.

If you haven't been keeping up with the "series" check out these articles:

• Games like Fallout 4 take crafting too far for the average player
• Fallout 4 Settlement Crafting: a step-by-step guide for beginners
• Why I restarted Fallout 4 and began completely ignoring settlements
• Fallout 4's Home Plate: the perfect, hassle-free one-man settlement

Essentially, what we've established so far is that I'm the antichrist because I don't believe the settlement system in the newest edition of Fallout is up to par. It seems to me like a tacked on addition that could've been skipped in favor of a more dungeon sprawling, dynamic game. Now the question at hand: what about The Elder Scrolls VI?  

Let the Speculation Begin!

It is high time speculation began on the next Elder Scrolls game by Bethesda. The Fallout 4 crazy train is slowly coming to a halt after a few months of utter chaos and The Elder Scrolls Online is still slowly chugging along. Not to mention it has been five whole years since the last epic release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. 

We're possibly on the eve of a major game announcement from the developer and there will certainly be some differences this time around. 

How will The Elder Scrolls Online Impact TES6?

The Elder Scrolls Online was great, but it wasn't the game fans were looking for when "an Elder Scrolls project" was announced way back before its release. However, there is a core element from that game that will likely carry over.

The Elder Scrolls Online, like many MMOs, focus all of the players' time on their own character. Their image, build, class, choices, and more are all focused around them. Hundreds and thousands of other players around them, but the Sun revolves around the player. Just because KhajiitGuy43 chose to kill that servant doesn't mean you will never be able to accept the servants quest again, he'll just respawn eventually. There's no worrying about the trifling lives of NPCs, other players, or anyone else, it's all about you. 

So, how will that impact The Elder Scrolls VI? The ridiculous success of having a player-driven online game is now a forerunner in Bethesda's mind. The next Elder Scrolls single player game will be entirely player based. More so than previous titles, players will seriously be focused on the development of their character. 

Learning things through crafting, reading, or magika to increase a knowledge level, or battling enemies to increase fitness, strength, and combative capabilities, players will train their characters. Perks will play an essential role in development as will general skill levels. The original race, gender, class, and image of your character will likely impact the entirety of the game as it has in previous titles.

So, let's get back on track here. How will all of that blah blah blah affect the settlement system in the next Elder Scrolls game?

If you haven't discerned it by now, I'm thinking that settlements will be completely forgotten in TES6. Let's go through some other examples before you freak out at me.

The Elder Scrolls - Settling

The Elder Scrolls have never really been games where the player cares about NPCs. Comparative to Fallout where we've been taking care of settlers and whatnot, the most "settling" we've done in Skyrim is building a house in the Hearthfire expansion. 

Unfortunately - for those of you that enjoy the settlement system in Fallout 4 - this is one of the reasons the settlement system won't rise again in TES6. 

However, I should mention the other side of the story. Fallout 3 and Skyrim were close enough to the same page in their version of "settling." In both games the player could buy a house and then see an NPC to buy "furniture" which would completely decorate an entire portion or room of the house.

Skyrim leaped forward with Hearthfire where we could build our own house, and now Fallout 4 has us building whole communities. 

Perhaps, using this example doesn't provide a compelling argument. Moving on...

The Creation Engine

When Fallout 4 was announced to be running a "new and improved" Creation Engine everyone cried out in glee! Then the community got a hold of it and collectively went, "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!" The engine was essentially the same one ran in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which was simply a reboot of the Gamebryo engine ran in every game since The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. 

So, what does the game's engine have to do with the settlement system carrying over? Everything. The ideal thing for Bethesda to do before another major release like TES6 is to revamp their engine and start fresh. With an entirely new engine, we don't know if the settlements will stay, go, or change drastically. My money is on go, but I'm sure a lot of you would like to see it improve and stay in the game. This leads me to my last point.

The Elder Scrolls - Crafting

What does the player craft in Fallout games? Guns, melee weapons, armor, chems, food. Most of these things are made up of salvage. Rusty pieces of metal found in old tin cans or toy cars, adhesive grown from farming or found in sticky leftover glue bottles, lower tier drugs, and random scavenged vegetables.

What does the player craft in The Elder Scrolls games? Swords, bows, armor, runes, potions, food. Fairly similar to Fallout but the ingredients are much more different. Purified metals worked into ingots from metal ores make up the majority of supplies, but wood, leather, rune stones, and some plant life makes up the remainder.

A lot of the response I received whilst criticizing the settlement system in Fallout 4 was negative. A lot of players thought that settling was a major source of resources that could not be replaced. Simply having a settlement provided spare salvage, water, food, and adhesives.

If the system were to carry into The Elder Scrolls there would be quite a difference. Crafting in The Elder Scrolls takes leather, purified metals, and training in the art of the smith to accomplish. In Fallout, any old metal will work in the do-it-yourself apocalypse. 

Immediately, the need for settlement supplies would diminish in an Elder Scrolls game. Unless settlements all included a mine and a cattle ranch, there's nothing they could provide. Sure they could send you plants, but the majority of the community only crafts potions as a hobby, not as a defining character trade. 

Conclusion

I feel as though I've rambled enough. There are a lot of reasons I can't see the settlement system remaining a defining feature of Bethesda's next game - presumably The Elder Scrolls VI. The system fits in with the post-apocalyptic world of Fallout 4, but would struggle to find a place in Tamriel.

The Elder Scrolls is much more character-driven with so many more traits, perks, abilities, classes, races, and more to choose from, making it harder to take the players' focus off of their own improvement. The Elder Scrolls has yet to dabble in settling NPCs and settlements would provide less of an advantage in that universe. Furthermore, the community is hoping for a new engine, which could seriously offset everything we know about Bethesda games as a whole. 

With all of this in mind, this article is speculation and only time will tell what The Elder Scrolls VI will have to offer. Expect to see some sort of leak or announcement in the next year or two regarding TES6. It has been five years since Skyrim's release and it's high time that the current console generation gets into Tamriel. 

We heard wind yesterday that Bethesda is making an appearance at E3 this year, and it instantly brought up thoughts of what they could be planning to show. There's a chance that it's just more Elder Scrolls Online information, but seeing as the game comes out for the consoles during the month of E3, I highly doubt that's the case.

This is, in fact, their first ever conference Bethesda has held at E3, so they must be planning to reveal something big. If we go back and analyze a few release dates as well as what we know about Bethesda, we may be able to work out what they might be showing.

Bethesda E3 Predictions

We can easily narrow the selection down to two big Bethesda franchises: Fallout and The Elder Scrolls. Other franchises, such as Dishonored, are being over-looked due to the game being developed by an outside company. While Bethesda may still show games from outside companies, this is their first year at E3 so I'm expecting them to show something of their own.

Fallout 4

The last Fallout game that Bethesda developed themselves was Fallout 3 from 2008. Fallout: New Vegas, which was developed by Obsidian Entertainment, came out two years later in October 2010. This is a relatively short span of time between releases. However, considering it wasn't Fallout 4, it's completely possible that Bethesda has been working on announcing the next Fallout game and will announce it here at E3.

Obsidian Entertainment did a great job with Fallout: New Vegas, the game was critically well-received, so I wouldn't be entirely surprised if they handed the series off--at least for a time. It's been awhile since we've seen a core Bethesda installment in the Fallout franchise, and fans are itching to see more.

The Elder Scrolls 6

Other than Elder Scrolls Online, we haven't heard much about The Elder Scrolls games for a while--other than a few quiet patches and DLC for TES V: Skyrim. Skyrim has been out now since November 2011. The last installment in the series, Oblivion, came out early in 2006, and Morrowind before that in 2002.

That looks like a pattern if I've ever seen one. If Bethesda follows this pattern, we can easily expect to see The Elder Scrolls 6 by 2017. If that's true, there's a high possibility that Bethesda could show off early concepts of the game this year. Showing of a game 2 years in advance may prove problematic, however. People don't want to wait that long - but maybe we won't have to.

Which One Will Bethesda Present?

Honestly? Both.

What other reasons are there for claiming your own conference at E3 other than hyping up majorly anticipated titles in well-beloved franchises? 

It's been long enough that a Fallout 4 game is definitely warranted, and it seems rather appropriate for The Elder Scrolls 6 to make an appearance this year. I feel like, if anything, they won't show The Elder Scrolls VI due to it possibly being a bit early in development.

I hope Bethesda will take their time on the next installment in both series. Bethesda is known for shipping unfinished content in their games. This time, I really hope they just finish it. Don't release the game until you are satisfied with it, Bethesda. Please.

The lines between games and movies have become blurred as game development has evolved. So it wouldn’t be such a stretch to see certain games, from both current and past gens, made into their own feature length films.

Below is a list I’ve complied of the top 10 games I believe could make great movies:

10. Little Big Planet

This sounds like a bit of a silly choice, but just hear me out. Imagine a kid’s movie starring Sack Boy, the loveable, silent protagonist. The story could focus on the rebuilding of his entire universe with just his creativity alone, after it was seemingly torn apart. The story could feature some dark undertones and minor adult humor that would be harder for kids to catch. It would be fun for the whole family and wouldn’t require a huge budget to make.

Favored Director: Lego Movie Directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord. I’ve seen The Lego Movie, it was well done with some darker elements and a HUGE plot twist, It seems they would be a perfect fit for Little Big Planet.

9. Dead Rising

Switching from cutesy and kid friendly to horrific and zombified, Dead Rising makes this later spot for one reason. The idea of the Zombie Apocalypse has been overdone. From movies like Dawn of the Dead, and its continuations throughout the years, as well as most recently World War Z. While the premise has been done, adding in elements of the Queen Bees inside the Zombies and the creative weapon customizations could make the movie unique. Sadly not unique enough to get the greenlight for the movie, I feel. Though I’d really love to see the paddle chainsaw on the big screen.

Favored Director: George A. Romero, is that cliché?

8. Metro: Last Light (2033)

The Post-Apocalyptic universe is set in irradiated Russia, where the world’s inhabitants have all but been pushed underground into the metro system. The air is toxic on the surface, so you must always were gas masks, constantly replacing air filters, while keeping an eye on the Geiger counter in hopes not to boil alive. Add in vicious, mutated animals and meta-humanoids with psychic powers, and you have the recipe for a thrill ride of a movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The screen writer would just need to find a way to immerse the view, then I could see a great film.

Favored Director: Assassin film Hanna director, Joe Wright. I can see him doing a great job, especially in the high intensity moments like the train chase or the close quarters combat scenes.

7. Fallout/ Elder Scrolls Series

These series are well known for vast, beautiful landscapes and grand quests that lead to ending bordering on grandeur. With the enormous, out of this world creatures and weapons that dwarf anything in our realm, it could serve to create amazing movie scenes. Any Action/Adventure fan would love to watch them. There are also so many entries in these series that could lead in to multiple, story driven sequels.

Favored Director: Peter Jackson, heck a lot of this has Lord of the Rings written into Elder Scrolls and it could easily translate to Fallout. Just a thought.

6. inFamous

Not sure why this one wasn’t considered before. There has been a huge boom in the super hero movies lately that this one would fit right in. Our hero or villain (depending on the movies direction) is granted super powers by an accident caused by events unknown. While learning his powers, Cole must decide whether to be good or evil. The weight of the world rests on his shoulders, and a good director and story writer could depict this perfectly. If they wanted to, they would make multiple sequels that branch into the evil and good choices ranges. Want to go in to see Cole be the Hero? See screenings 1,3,5. Want the darker choice, see the secondary releases 2,4,6. Would add a new twist to the cinematic dynamic.

Favored Director: Zack Snyder, enough said. His dark toned movies, especially the Hero based ones, have proven more than enough that he could do inFamous justice.

5. Watch Dogs

Imagine the Chicago we saw in Watch Dogs, controlled by computer systems and potential hackers, on the big screen. A conspiracy based movie set in the shoes of a hacker trying to free the world from being overrun by the ctOS. This could be an action based, gritty movie where the main character has the power to overthrow the system but has to watch his back throughout the entirety of the film. It’s definitely an enticing idea, but one that could go wrong very quickly if the screenplay isn’t hammered down just right.

Favored Director: I couldn’t think of one that would work well but my list of directors is low. Anyone with a feel for espionage and technology would be good.

4. Dead Space

Already a gruesome story, Dead Space gives us a chance to further explore horror in movie form. The main character is stranded on a derelict ship full f dark corridors, dead bodies, and vicious alien mutations that get worse as he goes along. Along with the upfront horror, the director could play with the psychological trama going on in the characters mind while trying to deal with this horrible nightmare. This would be a definite for horror buffs to see during Halloween.

Favored Director: Guillermo Del Toro. Even this guys non horror flicks are dark and he is already breaching into gaming with the new Silent Hills game. He’d do this movie well, but bring a change in underwear.

3. Slenderman

Sure this is a wild choice, but it is most certainly fit for a movie. It might even flesh out the story and mythos that is Slenderman as a whole. Sending the main character creeping through dark rooms, finding random notes telling them to run, that creepy feeling on their neck, could make for a perfect survival horror movie. Slenderman could be the next Jason or Michael Myers.

Favored Director: Sinister director Scott Derrickson could kill this movie in sheer creepiness alone. Just watch Sinister in the dark and you’ll believe it.

2. Destiny

Sure it’s new to the gaming scene and has a while to go to prove it is worth it, but Destiny’s story alone screams movie plot. An ancient being is discovered and helps set the human race to space travel and beyond, all the while being hunted by a mysterious evil known as “The Darkness”. Add in the resurrected hero and the plucky robot sidekick and you have the basis for an interesting adventure film.

Favored Director: J.J.Abrams. I mean why not, he’s dipping into every other space adventure with Star Trek and Star Wars. By the time he’s done with those, he will have the formula down to make Destiny just right.

1. Metal Gear Solid

Now this series has systematically been working its way to be a movie, or at least it feels like it. A whole realm of espionage, warfare, advanced technology, and even dabbling in the mythical, this game has it all. Conspiracies and political agendas run high as the world is threatened. It is a great set up for a string of movies, in fact the studio director Hideo Kojima could direct. His in game cinematics are well executed and numerous enough, they even merge with in game action perfectly. It really wouldn’t be a surprise to see this as a movie at some point.

Favored Director: Kojima, like I said, he has directed his games. If he was paired with a good movie studio, he could pull it off amazingly.

Did I hit all the ones on your list? Did I come up with some new ideas you never considered? Let me know your thoughts on this top 10, or even let me know your own.

Three and a half months after its initial release for PC, The Elder Scrolls Online made its way to Steam (at half price) late last week. Now that some of the hype from the beta testing and PC release has died down, and with a while to go before we see the game on console, it’s a good time to take a closer look at The Elder Scrolls Online and the impact it may have on the Elder Scrolls franchise.

Warring Alliances – The ESO Fan Camps

Right out of the gate, Elder Scrolls Online received mixed reviews. Even during the closed beta, people were quick to take sides--you either loved the game, or you hated it. A quick glance at the game’s scores on Metacritic seems to back this up. While the critics mostly gave ESO mixed and positive reviews, the user reviews weren’t so kind. Nearly half of the total user reviews are positive, but almost forty percent are negative. The number of actual mixed user reviews doesn’t even reach triple digits. Steam’s user reviews seem to be following the same trend, racking up an almost impressive number of negative responses.

It seems like a lot of ESO’s negative reviews aren’t coming from new players, but from those who are already familiar with the Elder Scrolls series, or who have at least played Skyrim. A lot of us – myself included – have been with Bethesda since Morrowind. And, they have never failed to deliver.

With such a strong reputation, we expected a lot out of The Elder Scrolls Online.

And what did we get?

Some players would say we still got a hell of a game. Others say we got a too-buggy-even-for-Bethesda flop that fails as both an MMO and an RPG. And, a game that seems to ignore the visual themes, rich character development, and intricate lore that was well-established in previous Elder Scrolls installments.

But wait – Is ESO really an Elder Scrolls Game?

Aside from technical quibbles, one of the most common ESO complaints I’ve encountered is that it simply doesn’t “feel” like an Elder Scrolls game, and I have to agree. Maybe we could forgive some of its other shortcomings (I’m looking at you, glitches) if it still had that Elder Scrolls feel we’ve come to know and love. So what went wrong?

Back in 2007, when The Elder Scrolls Online first went into development, Bethesda created ZeniMax Online Studios to handle the project while Bethesda worked on other games. While this may not sound like a huge factor, a brand-new team may have seriously impacted The Elder Scrolls Online. Bethesda has an impressive number of returning team members from game to game. A quick comparison of the development credits for Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim shows that those in leading design, writing, and production positions tend to work on the series for at least two games, if not more. And those who have worked on an Elder Scrolls game previously tend to resurface in leadership positions. Bethesda’s executive producer, Todd Howard, has worked on the series since Arena (1994).

ZeniMax Online Studios came with new hands and fresh faces. Even the lead producer’s credit was passed from Todd Howard to Matt Firor, who previously produced several Dark Age of Camelot installments. The rest of the development positions were passed on too, it seems. Most of the key developers credited for The Elder Scrolls Online have not been previously credited with development of an Elder Scrolls game. A new perspective is hardly ever a bad thing, but perhaps that’s part of the reason that The Elder Scrolls Online was lacking in Elder Scrolls atmosphere.

Somewhere in all that shiny newness – new team, new plot, new platform – the elements that made the RPGs so distinctive just got lost. And with few to no returning development members, who could tell ZeniMax Online that something just didn’t feel right?

So What Does This Mean For The Elder Scrolls Franchise?

Fans are beginning to wonder where the next Elder Scrolls RPG installment is. With five years between Oblivion and Skyrim, it’s about time for Bethesda to start mumbling about The Elder Scrolls VI. Currently, Bethesda seems to be focusing most of its energy on its Wolfenstein and DOOM installments, as well as its upcoming survival horror game, The Evil Within, set for release in October 2014.

A recent job opening posted on ZeniMax’s website has stirred up the Elder Scrolls fan base. Bethesda is searching for new game developers, and fans are wondering what game we’ll be seeing next. Most bets are on Fallout 4, but executive producer Todd Howard says it will be a while before Bethesda makes any formal announcements.

There’s speculation that The Elder Scrolls Online is going to be the proverbial arrow in the series’ knee. Fans seem concerned that ESO will follow in the footsteps of World of Warcraft. It’s been nine years since we’ve seen an RTS Warcraft game and not mere expansions for the MMO. Could ZeniMax Online choose do the same thing to our beloved Elder Scrolls series? Many fans believe that ESO alone isn’t successful enough to carry the franchise without another RPG, but others aren’t entirely convinced.

Until Bethesda tells us otherwise, we’re holding our breath.

Or perhaps we can ask M’aiq the Liar. I hear he knows many things.