Kurt Kuhlmann, the co-lead designer of Skyrim, says Bethesda Game Studios kept putting off The Elder Scrolls 6 because other projects kept getting forced on the team. He points to the online multiplayer spin-off Fallout 76 and the space RPG Starfield as the two projects that came first. He describes Starfield as creative director Todd Howard’s personal dream project rather than something the whole studio wanted to build.
Kuhlmann recently told FRVR, via PC Gamer, that the studio was never about to start work on TES 6 after Fallout 4. Instead, the team moved to Fallout 76, and then Howard pushed for Starfield. His account offers a clear look at why fans waited so long for the next main game in the fantasy series.
Kuhlmann’s Long Time at Bethesda
Kuhlmann spent over 20 years at Bethesda before leaving in 2023. He says the split was bitter and came from him being refused the lead designer post on The Elder Scrolls 6.
His view carries weight because he worked on some of the studio’s biggest titles. Skyrim launched in 2011, and Fallout 4 arrived four years later. By that line, fans might have hoped for TES 6 around 2019.
Instead, the studio went other ways. Kuhlmann says Fallout 76 was not first meant to take the whole studio. He told FRVR that the team’s next work was never going to be TES 6, even though that is what most people wanted.
“[Fallout 76] wasn’t originally supposed to involve our whole studio,” he told FRVR. “But then, I mean, what we were supposed to be working on next—it wasn’t ever that we were about to suddenly work on TES 6, even though that’s what I think most people wanted.”
He added that he “would’ve much rather been making TES 6 instead of [Fallout] 76 and Starfield, personally. And I think that would probably be true for the majority of the studio. That’s what most people wanted to do, you know?”
Howard’s Push for Starfield
Kuhlmann says Howard got the Zenimax board to sign off on Starfield at the time. The game became the studio’s next big project after Fallout 76.
The designer’s account suggests Starfield was not a plan from the team. It was a choice from Howard. Kuhlmann described the moment plainly in his talk with FRVR.
“It wasn’t like Starfield was this big internal like, ‘Hey, we all want to make this space game, Todd.’ It was very much, ‘Guess what, team? We’re making this space game.’”
He also pointed to issues during Starfield’s making. He named a growing set of rules at Bethesda as adding to what he saw as problems at the studio. His words suggest the project carried costs beyond the long wait for TES 6.
What Kuhlmann Wanted Instead
Kuhlmann was clear about his choice. He wanted to work on The Elder Scrolls 6, not the multiplayer spin-off or the space RPG.
He said he “would’ve much rather been making TES 6 instead of [Fallout] 76 and Starfield, personally.” He added that he thought this was true for most of the studio.
He believes most people at Bethesda felt the same. The studio’s focus, in his view, was not where the team wanted it to be. That gap between the team’s wishes and the studio’s path is a key part of his story.
Kuhlmann’s time at the studio gave him a close view of how these choices were made. He was there for the launch of Skyrim, the arrival of Fallout 4, and the start of the projects that followed. His exit in 2023 came after he was denied the lead designer role on the very game he wanted to make.
The Road to TES 6
After many turns, The Elder Scrolls 6 is finally the next game Bethesda is putting out. Howard said it was the studio’s top aim in the wake of a layoff-filled shake-up at Xbox over the summer.
There is no release window in sight. Bethesda has not given a date or even a year for the game’s launch.
Kuhlmann’s account helps show why the wait has been so long. The studio spent years on Fallout 76 and then Starfield before turning back to the fantasy series. Each of those projects took time and staff, and neither was what most of the team wanted to build.
The order of events matters here. Fallout 76 came first, and it was not meant to take the whole studio at the start. Then Starfield became the next big push. Only after those two projects did TES 6 move to the front of the line.
The Cost of the Wait
The gap between Skyrim and a possible TES 6 is now well over ten years.
Kuhlmann’s words suggest that wait was not part of a big plan. It came from other projects taking first place, sometimes against the wishes of the team itself.
He says the studio’s heads made the call. Howard pushed Starfield forward, and the Zenimax board gave its approval. The team, in Kuhlmann’s telling, was told what the next game would be rather than asked.
That process had real effects. Kuhlmann pointed to issues during Starfield’s development and a growing set of rules at Bethesda. He saw these as problems at the studio, and he tied them to the path the studio took.
What Comes Next
The Elder Scrolls 6 is now the next game Bethesda is putting out. Howard has said it is the studio’s top aim.
Kuhlmann is no longer there to see it through. He left in 2023 after being refused the lead designer role on the game.
His exit was bitter, and his recent words show he still has strong feelings about how the studio set its aims. He wanted to make TES 6 years ago, and he believes most of his fellow workers did too.
The writer of the piece speculates the game may arrive before the end of the decade. No release window has been given. Bethesda has only said that TES 6 is the next game the studio is putting out and that it is the top priority.
Kuhlmann’s story is one of a team pulled away from the project it wanted most. The wait for The Elder Scrolls 6 has been long, and his account explains a good part of why. The game is now in front of the studio’s work, but fans still have no date to mark on their calendars.
Source: kotaku.com
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