Todd Howard says Bethesda will return to 'that classic style' for Elder Scrolls 6: 'Fallout 76 and Starfield are a little bit of a creative detour'

Todd Howard says Bethesda will return to ‘that classic style’ for Elder Scrolls 6: ‘Fallout 76 and Starfield are a little bit of a creative detour’ | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now Don’t miss these Fallout The White House is a radioactive crater in Fallout 3 because there were no quests there, so why build it? ‘It is our version of [Indiana Jones] shooting the guy rather than pulling out his whip and going into a fight’ Fallout Fallout’s original creators say that Fallout 3 and 4 aren’t quite what they would’ve done, but ‘sales say people love what they did’ Fallout ‘It took about 5 years’ for people to start liking Fallout: New Vegas, says Josh Sawyer, and even longer for Obsidian to see that ‘players actually liked the design choices we had made’ Fallout I am once again tapping my ‘Todd Howard genuinely loves Fallout’ sign: He’s an OG Fallout 1 fan and still hasn’t given back the disc he nicked from his brother RPG Todd Howard says there’s no Starfield 2.0 coming: The next big update is for people who already love Starfield, and if you don’t, ‘I don’t think this is going to change that’ Fallout Bethesda originally thought Fallout 3’s metro system should go all over the map, then realised running through miles of tunnels was dull as hell: ‘Being realistic sometimes isn’t fun’ Fallout Todd Howard says Bethesda really didn’t expect people to hate the way Fallout 3 ended with a full stop: ‘We thought this is Fallout, it’s great! People hated it!’ The Elder Scrolls The Elder Scrolls 6: All the key details about Bethesda’s return to Tamriel RPG The best Elder Scrolls game that isn’t an Elder Scrolls game is getting a big patch in February and free DLC in March The Elder Scrolls Bethesda’s former Elder Scrolls loremaster on why he left, Starfield’s ‘communication breakdowns’, and how he wanted The Elder Scrolls 6 ‘to be The Empire Strikes Back’ The Elder Scrolls Bethesda’s former Elder Scrolls loremaster won’t tell us where The Elder Scrolls 6 is set, but the team originally agreed on it way back in the Fallout 4 days The Elder Scrolls Skyrim’s co-lead designer says Starfield’s main problem is that it never fully cohered as a game: ‘It was a releasable game, but it wasn’t the best’ RPG Divinity will officially wave goodbye to Original Sin 2’s broken armour system MMO It’s a ways off, but Elder Scrolls Online will get crossplay and cross-progression ‘at the same time’ The Elder Scrolls Skyrim lead designer’s biggest lore regret is *checks notes* one of the coolest things the series has ever done PopularNEW: PC Gamer Clips!Arc RaidersBest PC gearFalloutGame Quizzes Games RPG The Elder Scrolls VI Todd Howard says Bethesda will return to ‘that classic style’ for Elder Scrolls 6: ‘Fallout 76 and Starfield are a little bit of a creative detour’ News By Jody Macgregor published 19 February 2026 And it’ll be powered by an upgraded engine. 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From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we’ve got you covered. Signup + Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Signup + An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Todd Howard Returns! – Kinda Funny Gamescast – YouTube Watch On Bethesda game director Todd Howard recently emerged blinking into the light of day for an interview with Greg Miller on the Kinda Funny Gamescast. During that interview, he pointed out that Starfield’s next update isn’t going to change your mind on Starfield if you didn’t already love it.The topic of The Elder Scrolls 6 came up as well, with Howard reiterating that he didn’t enjoy having to announce it so far in advance, but did so because otherwise people wouldn’t stop bloody asking about it. It’s our own fault, really. Howard was also careful to point out that Elder Scrolls 6 won’t be anything like Starfield or Fallout 76.”I think we’ve—if you look at our games—we’ve always evolved,” Howard said. “We do have a certain style that we like and our fans like that we want to get better and better at. I think in some ways—in many ways, Fallout 76 and Starfield are a little bit of a creative detour from that classic Elder Scrolls, Fallout, you know, a Skyrim, or a Fallout 3, or a Fallout 4, Oblivion, where you’re exploring a world in a certain way. And, as we come back to Elder Scrolls 6 that we’re doing now, we’re coming back to that classic style that we’ve missed, that we know really, really well.” Related articles The Elder Scrolls 6: All the key details a