Bethesda’s games have been building on tech that’s been increasingly showing its age over the past few years, and while the forum cry of ‘just use a new engine’ ignores many of the realities of game development, the company is hinting at bigger changes for its next round of big RPG games.
Next-gen technology is “optimized for the vast worlds we love to create, with generational leaps not just in graphics, but CPU and data streaming as well,” Bethesda’s Todd Howard says in a blog post. “It’s led to our largest engine overhaul since Oblivion, with all-new technologies powering our first new IP in 25 years, Starfield, as well as The Elder Scrolls 6.”
Bethesda is about to be a subsidiary of Microsoft, and Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6 are due to launch for both PC and the next-gen Xbox consoles. Whenever the Starfield release date and The Elder Scrolls 6 release date do finally land, you’ll be able to play them on either platform – just probably not on Sony’s machine – with all the benefits that new tech can provide.
We’re also going to start seeing Bethesda games new and old start to appear on Xbox Game Pass for PC and consoles, so you’ll be able to get those big ol’ RPGs for the cost of a monthly subscription.