The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrimfirst released in 2011 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, and it became one of the most successful games of the generation. Bethesda subsequently released new versions of the game for everything from Nintendo Switch to PlayStation VR and evenAmazon Alexa, and it doesn’t sound like the ports will stop anytime soon.
Speaking to Geoff Keighleyat Gamelab in Barcelona,Skyrimdirector Todd Howard said that the average player-count per month in the game continues to be in the millions, and Bethesda has no plans to stop finding new platforms for it.
“That’s why we keep releasing it,” Howard added. “If you want us to stop releasing it, stop buying it.”
Skyrimhas seen visual enhancements on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, virtual reality on PlayStation VR, HTC Vive, and Oculus Rift, and Nintendo-specific bonuses on Switch, but there hasn’t been a substantial content addition in years. Instead, players have had to turn toThe Elder Scrolls Onlinefor that fix, or play through the more recentFallout 4. In November, the onlineFallout 76will also be available.
Of course, Howard’s comments don’t mean Bethesda Game Studios has any plans to abandon future Elder Scrolls titles. AtE3 in June, the company “revealed”The Elder Scrolls VIwith a logo and little else, and Howard said it will be the game his team works onafterit completesStarfield, which was also just announced last month. This likely puts a new Elder Scrolls game at least four or five years away, and it will almost certainly launch on the next generation of consoles instead of the ones we have now.
If you need a new Elder Scrolls experience and don’t feel like playingSkyrimfor the 50th time,The Elder Scrolls: Bladeswill be out later this year. A free-to-play game on iOS and Android and planned for more platforms — including virtual reality — it’s a first-person role-playing game with cross-platform support, and on phones, it can even be played in portrait mode. In addition to story content and multiplayer,Bladesincludes the “Abyss” challenge, a never-ending dungeon that pits players against increasingly dangerous enemies.
