E3 2018 had some good games to show off, but it also had a series of nothing announcements, confirmation of a game’s title and existence with little else to really go on. The Elder Scrolls VI was one of those announcements with little more than a sweeping view of some trees, fog, and mountains, before playing a new version of the now well-known theme and showing off the title card. Yup, The Elder Scrolls VI is coming, but it won’t be here for a while and we know next to nothing about it. We don’t even know the release date. Well, Todd Howard does, but he’s not about to say anything.
One thing we do know for certain is that The Elder Scrolls VI is a single-player game. It won’t go the route of Fallout 76, which is an all-online version of Fallout. In fact, Bethesda’s announcement of Fallout 76 is what prompted them to announce The Elder Scrolls VI so early. In an interview with Bethesda’s VP of Marketing Pete Hines, FZ.se discovered that the studio wanted to set out a roadmap for where the company is going. Their next title is Fallout 76, with the mysterious new IP Starfield following that, and finally The Elder Scrolls VI sometime after that one.
The announcement also allowed the studio to reassure fans that the company is not pivoting to an all-online ecosystem for their games. After last year’s #SavePlayer1 campaign to highlight single-player experiences, The Elder Scrolls VI announcement was largely to let people know that a massive single-player RPG is in the pipeline. Hines explained their logic for the early announcement.
[The announcement] also helps convince folks, like, look, this is not forever-more what we’re doing. We are going to do a game that’s just single-player next time around, and yes, we are going to get to Elder Scrolls 6. There’s going to be a long time before we’re ready to talk about what those are, because we want the time between when we start to talk about it and it comes out to not be two years long or three years long. But it just gives folks a better idea of where we’re headed and understanding what the studio is working on and trying to do.
It looks like Bethesda simply wanted to give everyone a heads up on what’s coming, and will start the conversation about the details closer to actual release. If Hines’s comments about not wanting two or three year-long waits are anything to go by, it’s possible that we won’t see Starfield until 2020 and The Elder Scrolls VI until 2021, but at least we know that they are on the roadmap, and that Bethesda hasn’t completely ditched single-player experiences.
[Via: PCGamer]
E3 2018 Nothing Announcements
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Starfield
It is SUPER exciting that Bethesda is working on a brand new IP for the first time in 25 years. It's even more exciting that it's a sci-fi title. But, um, maybe don't mention anything until you have something to show? That is, other than space, a planet, and a ship and a comment that it's a next-gen title. If they mean next-gen as in PS5 next-gen, then we won't be able to see anything with it for awhile anyway.
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Control - Sony
At first glance, I thought this might be a sequel to Quantum Break. A lot of the mechanics seemed similar, not to mention the color scheme. But no, this isn't Quantum Break or a true sequel, and we have no idea what kind of powers this female protagonist has. It looks like she has control over things, but what kind of control?
Granted, as it is a Remedy game, it wouldn't be them without keeping a lot of the mystery going until release.
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Daemon X Machina - Nintendo
Whatever this is, it looks amazing. Love the cel-shading, love the Platinum Games-esque action, and love that it's about mechs. But, um, what is this, really? Is it a single-player experience? Is it Battle Royale? Come on, Nintendo, you had talking heads in your presentation. No one could give any hints?
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Death Stranding - Sony
Yes, we've seen more of Death Stranding than we've ever seen before with this E3 trailer, but we still have no idea what the hell this is, either. No idea what Norman Reedus and Norman Fetus (especially Norman Fetus) are doing.
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Halo Infinite - Microsoft
I knew Microsoft was going to announce a new Halo title. It had been some time since Halo 5: Guardians' release, and Microsoft needs them exclusives right now. Considering the number of Halo games out there, how exactly is this announcement nothing? We already know what the game is about, and we know what the combat is. All are valid points, but it's the name of this entry that befuddles what this could be.
What does the Infinite part mean? Is this a true #6 in the franchise or is it like ODST or Reach? Or is this Halo: Battle Royale? (Dear God, please no.)
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The Quiet Man - Square Enix
Square Enix had a bizarre showcase, in that it was about 30 minutes of a sizzle reel of their upcoming titles. No explanation. No talking heads. They just showed the games and dropped the mic. For most of their announcements it worked, because it was regarding Final Fantasy XIV, Dragon Quest XI, NieR: Automata, and Kingdom Hearts III. However, they threw in a live-actiony game called The Quiet Man with no bravado, and then quickly went on to the next thing on their list. A little explanation would have been nice, Squenix.
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The Elder Scrolls VI - Bethesda
This announcement cracked me up. Bethesda knows what the people want, and evidently, they want grass, fog, and a logo of a popular franchise. Bethesda closed their show with a literal 37-second trailer of grass, fog, and a font. That's really all they needed, as fans of the series lost their minds on Twitter over an announcement that literally said nothing.
