The Elder Scrolls 6 – Former Bethesda Animator Believes Studio Won’t Expand Team for Development

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After completing Starfield in 2023 and releasing Shattered Space DLC in 2024, Bethesda Game Studios may not be extending their team to focus on The Elder Scrolls 6, as suggested by a former animator at the studio, Jeremy Bryant.

As a passionate admirer, I recently discovered an intriguing perspective shared by Bryant in his chat with Kiwi Talkz. He shed light on Bethesda’s strategic approach to acquiring smaller game studios at once, fostering a smoother and more efficient game development process, as opposed to swiftly hiring a multitude of their own developers. To provide some background, Bryant has been an instrumental figure in the creation of beloved Bethesda titles such as Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Starfield.

According to Bryant (as reported by GamesRadar), Todd [Howard] has a clear vision for the game he wants to create, and he recognizes that it requires a certain number of people to bring his vision to life. By outlining the project’s scope, it becomes apparent that additional developers are needed. It seems like the only feasible way to grow quickly is by acquiring other teams rather than hiring individually, as it would be challenging to recruit at the pace required to reach the necessary scale.

When asked if Bethesda might increase its team size for the development of The Elder Scrolls 6, Bryant said something along the lines of “I don’t expect that.” He further explained that Bethesda’s approach resembles Rockstar Games’, where they often bring on multiple developers from various departments like animation and programming to deliver their games.

He exclaimed, “Rockstar is truly exceptional!” Their games are meticulously crafted, leaving you in awe and questioning their creative process. For instance, GTA 6 has been in development for over a decade, I understand that, but when I checked the credits for Red Dead, I was amazed to find they employed around 500 animators! Notably, there were approximately 80-85 gameplay animators, another 80 for cinematics, and yet another 100 for facial animations. Such massive teams, it’s astonishing! I believe the overall development team for Red Dead 2 was about 1,600 people.

He added, “It’s possible that around 3,000 individuals could be involved in the development of GTA 6. What I can’t wrap my head around is how they manage communication and build camaraderie among such a large, seemingly haphazard group, like workers on an assembly line. To me, it doesn’t seem ideal; it seems downright awful.

Back in 2018, Bethesda officially unveiled “The Elder Scrolls 6.” Although the brief teaser trailer didn’t offer any insights into its setting or gameplay mechanics, it served to assure fans that the studio was indeed working on the next installment of this popular franchise at some point in the future.

In previous mentions, Bethesda’s executive Pete Hines described the game as a large and ambitious project. He also mentioned that it is yet to be released for some time. More recently, in 2023, Phil Spencer, who currently heads Microsoft Gaming, stated that The Elder Scrolls 6 will likely not be available for at least five more years.

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2025-04-21 16:42