Todd Howard hints that a new Bethesda game may be coming soon

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What with all the new editions of Skyrim that have been coming out lately, it’s easy to forget that Bethesda Game Studios’ last big game, Fallout 4, came out almost three whole years ago. But studio executive producer Todd Howard has suggested that the next big game might be coming soon.

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In an interview with Ted Price for the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Game Maker’s Notebook podcast, Howard discussed a new animation engine the studio is currently working on. YouTuber JustDom points out that Howard says the new animation system is going to be used on a project Bethesda currently have in pre-production, while the project in “full production” is using the old system (presumably the one used in Fallout 4).

It’s not precisely the subject of what Howard was discussing, but as JustDom points out, it does sound an awful lot like Bethesda is well into production on their new, unannounced title – far enough in that it wouldn’t be possible to adopt the studio’s new animation system, at least.

Speculation? Sure. But JustDom also notes a point later in the interview where Howard talks about the pressures of finishing a game.

“You forget,” Howard says. “If you haven’t moved in a while, moving is terrible. Or having a child. Not terrible! But the pressures of it, you forget how hard it is to finish a game.”

It seems possible – or likely, even – that the reason Howard brings up forgetting these pressures is because he’s currently in the middle of remembering them. And that would indicate that he’s working hard on getting a new game ready to ship.

Nothing is definite, of course, but it’s a pretty good bet that we’ll see something major from Bethesda during their E3 press event.