[vanuza]

There is NO OFFICIAL information about a new TES game release.

This thread is for member speculation of when and if TES V will be released. This is where you post any new information about when it might be released, tidbits from interviews which mention it and such.

It is also where you post your theories of when you think it might come out based on guesses, number crunching, rumors or such.

This is about speculating on the next TES game and when -- or if -- it is going to be released. It is not a place for discussion of what is going to be in it, what type of graphics there will be, or any other subject of that type; they belong in the http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1112872-tes-v-ideas-and-suggestions-177/. If those kind of posts get raised they will be deleted and the poster warned for going off topic.


Please note that this thread is not a personal chat box and that one liners and posts of little substance will be considered as spam and thus the poster will be subject to warnings and suspensions.

No scans of copy righted material are allowed in this thread. Any claims to having insider information will be removed. All other forum rules apply. You agreed to them, so please read them.

More recent interviews of note:
April 27th, 2009: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/974/974529p1.html
June 25th, 2009: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=24211 (particularly this quoted part)August 14th, 2009: http://news.bigdownload.com/2009/08/14/quakecon-2009-todd-howard-keynote-highlights/
August 17th, 2009: Pete clarify many things of what happen in QuakeCon in this blog: http://bethblog.com/index.php/2009/08/17/clarifying-about-next-elder-scrolls-game-mmo-etc/
January 6th, 2010: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/kotaku/2010/01/06/chatting-with-fallout-and-oblivions-todd-howard, at the 9:30-10:30 mark Todd Howard said: "[...] we spend a lot of time adding to the engine, [...] and we've sort of been doing that with the big new game [we've been] making since we finished Fallout 3. You know we finished Fallout 3 over a year ago so that whole time has been spent re-doing a large part of our basic technology[...]".
May 4th 2010: http://www.joystiq.com/2010/05/04/interview-bethesdas-pete-hines/ about future games.
August 2010: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-08-16-bethesdas-todd-howard-interview?page=1 and an http://pc.ign.com/articles/111/1112464p1.html

PLEASE NOTE: AS PER MODERATOR REQUESTS IN THE PREVIOUS THREAD, PLEASE CONFINE THIS DISCUSSION TO SPECULATION TO BETHESDA GAME STUDIOS / TES:V. DISCUSSION OF ZENIMAX ONLINE STUDIOS PROJECTS OR AN ES MMO SHOULD GO IN THE http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1085332-official-tes-multiplayer-thread/

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1110826-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-60/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1110982-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-61/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1111500-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-62/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1112416-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-63/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1106754-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-55/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1107601-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-56/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1108632-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-57/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1109811-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-58/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1110163-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-59/,
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1103053-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-50/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1103159-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-51/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1103382-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-52/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1104047-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-53/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1104749-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-54/,
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1101929-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-45/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1102423-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-46/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1102619-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-47/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1102744-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-48/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1102894-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-49/,
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1099526-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-40/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1100100-tes-v-speculation-thread-41/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1100625-tes-v-speculation-thread-42/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1101362-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-43/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1101692-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-44/,
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1096566-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-35/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1097314-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-36/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1097723-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-37/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1098448-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-38/, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1098899-official-tes-v-speculation-thread-39/,

Note that Bethesda Game Studios is NOT working on Fallout: New Vegas, Rage, Brink, or Hunted: The Demon's Forge -- Nor do they develop MMOs.

[kristy dunn]

So why isn't CoD stepping back because RB3 is being buzzed, or why isn't RB3 stepping back because WoW is being buzzed, or why isn't Civ5 stepping back because Halo is being buzzed etc. *sigh* why do I bother Alright! Long-rant short, the world can stand having multiple games being buzzed and hyped at the same time, gamers can keep their eyes on a multitude of games, and announced games will have very little impact on games which have already been released. If TES was announced two days before CoD is released, I fail to see how that will possibly impact sales of either, not only because they are two completely different genres, but also because they are going to be released at two completely different times!

What? No.

I agree, gamers can keep their on on multiple games at once, can they afford them all at once? No. Therefore, does it make sense to release one in an already crowded period? No.

Also, from a publishing perspective as mentioned above, yes, F:NV is coming out soon and all the publicity is being handled by Bethesda Studios. So as a company that is trying to release a game, do you think they would be impressed if their publisher suddenly came along and said 'Oh hey guys, we're releasing another iteration of our flagship game that is going to stomp all over the sales of your game, BL.'

What sort of a precedent does that set? Do you think that companies would really want their games published by Bethesda Studios if they set that sort of standard?

[Robert DeLarosa]

What? No.

I agree, gamers can keep their on on multiple games at once, can they afford them all at once? No. Therefore, does it make sense to release one in an already crowded period? No.

Thanks for bringing this up. Better to address it on the first page.

There is a difference between an announcement and a release. TESV wouldn't be released until months after the release of F:NV, and that's if it were announced today. There is no way in hell that announcing this game would impact F:NV's sales in any way, unless gamers can only afford one game every other year.

[Julie Ann]

What? No.

I agree, gamers can keep their on on multiple games at once, can they afford them all at once? No. Therefore, does it make sense to release one in an already crowded period? No.

Also, from a publishing perspective as mentioned above, yes, F:NV is coming out soon and all the publicity is being handled by Bethesda Studios. So as a company that is trying to release a game, do you think they would be impressed if their publisher suddenly came along and said 'Oh hey guys, we're releasing another iteration of our flagship game that is going to stomp all over the sales of your game, BL.'

What sort of a precedent does that set? Do you think that companies would really want their games published by Bethesda Studios if they set that sort of standard?

Agreed. Anyone thinking that they'll announce it before FO NV is just wishfully thinking

[Kayleigh Mcneil]

There is a difference between an announcement and a release. TESV wouldn't be released until months after the release of F:NV, and that's if it were announced today. There is no way in hell that announcing this game would impact F:NV's sales in any way, unless gamers can only afford one game every other year.

This. Announcement does not mean release. Even if they announced TESV this afternoon, NV would have months of "uninterrupted" sales.

[Add Me]

This. Announcement does not mean release. Even if they announced TESV this afternoon, NV would have months of "uninterrupted" sales.

Edit: Sorry, missinformed please disreguard.

[Amber Ably]

I come late for most game annoucements. Anyway they did annouce New Vegas shortly before the release of Fallout 3, did that hurt Fallout 3s Sales? No, it did not.

4/20/2009 is the announcement date for Fallout New Vegas (from what I can tell anyway) which is well after the release of Fallout 3, so the answer would be "no, the announcement had no impact on the sales" except perhaps an increase in sales after the announcement for those who hadn't played Fallout 3 and wanted to prepare for FONV...

[Brandi Norton]

TESV will be announced between now and the end of time and the world will not end December 22, 2012. I don't believe in that fake crap.

[Emma Pennington]

I still do not understand the logic in this theory. The games will at least be a year away from one another. This is the scenario that this theory is proposing:

A guy goes to a game store, he says "Oooh! the new Fallout is here, I think I'll buy that when I have enough money!" The gamer hear's on the radio that TES: V has just been announced, but a release date hasn't been set. The gamer says "Awww...how am I supposed to buy New Vegas when TES: V has an indefinite release date?! Shoot! I can't possibly buy this game which is right in front of me now because there is another game which I like that will be released in the future, even though I have no idea when it'll hit the store shelves!"

Just some definitions here...

Announcement: The first time a company officially speaks about and declares that they are making a product.

Release: The first time a company puts said product in stores ready for sale.

If the problem is that the games will be in stores together, don't worry, that is impossible, even if TES: V was announced seconds after my post. If the problem is that the company can't possibly publish two games at the same time, then you need to wake up and take a look at the Bethblog; Brink, Hunted, Fallout, The Works, The Podcast and a couple of other stuff were all being promoted at the same time. Now please explain this theory again with all that I said in mind because I really don't see any sense in this thing, I'm not trying to be offensive or anything, it's just that the whole idea sounds completely broken :shrug:

[Melis Hristina]

I come late for most game annoucements. Anyway they did annouce New Vegas shortly before the release of Fallout 3, did that hurt Fallout 3s Sales? No, it did not.

What the... no.... New Vegas was announced in http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/974/974289p1.html, and Fallout 3 was released in October 2008. I'd love to know how you got those dates confused...

[Michael Korkia]

4/20/2009 is the announcement date for Fallout New Vegas (from what I can tell anyway) which is well after the release of Fallout 3, so the answer would be "no, the announcement had no impact on the sales" except perhaps an increase in sales after the announcement for those who hadn't played Fallout 3 and wanted to prepare for FONV...

Oh, right. I knew about Fallout New Vegas before I got Fallout 3, that was it, however that had no impact on my purchasing of Fallout 3.

Besides I am Still going to get New Vegas, even if they announce TES5. They are two different games.

Edit: @ Antibody, I'm sorry I mixxed up when I got Fallout 3 and its release date. I got Fallout 3 after the Annoucement of New Vegas.

[helliehexx]

I still do not understand the logic in this theory. The games will at least be a year away from one another. This is the scenario that this theory is proposing:

A guy goes to a game store, he says "Oooh! the new Fallout is here, I think I'll buy that when I have enough money!" The gamer hear's on the radio that TES: V has just been announced, but a release date hasn't been set. The gamer says "Awww...how am I supposed to buy New Vegas when TES: V has an indefinite release date?! Shoot! I can't possibly buy this game which is right in front of me now because there is another game which I like that will be released in the future, even though I have no idea when it'll hit the store shelves!"

Just some definitions here...

Announcement: The first time a company officially speaks about and declares that they are making a product.

Release: The first time a company puts said product in stores ready for sale.

If the problem is that the games will be in stores together, don't worry, that is impossible, even if TES: V was announced seconds after my post. If the problem is that the company can't possibly publish two games at the same time, then you need to wake up and take a look at the Bethblog; Brink, Hunted, Fallout, The Works, The Podcast and a couple of other stuff were all being promoted at the same time. Now please explain this theory again with all that I said in mind because I really don't see any sense in this thing, I'm not trying to be offensive or anything, it's just that the whole idea sounds completely broken :shrug:

It's more of an issue for people who like to get as much variety out of games as possible with a limited budget.

Let's say that I'm willing to spend about $300 a year on video games (so that I can get 5 games). In my near future, I see Halo: Reach, AC:B, FONV, DA2, and the new FIFA. Three of these games are coming out around the same time, namely Halo, AC:B, and FONV, which will stretch me a bit financially (I am willing to spend $300 over the course of the year, but am not able to in a 2 month period). So, right now I can only buy 2 games, and I will have to pick one of them to wait on. Now, TESV is announced. I don't immediately forget about FONV because my ADD isn't quite that bad, but I do go online and research when TESV is expected to be released. Many people say it will be released for Q4 2011. Well, I like TES better than FO, and the idea behind both is much the same: you have a first-person perspective of a massive, detailed world of which you are destined to be the hero (or at least the shaper of the world to come). So I think I will get Reach and Assassin's Creed now, pick up DA2 in March, grab the new FIFA when it comes out, and then finish the year off with TESV. However, if TESV is not announced, I have no idea whether it is even being developed, so I would buy FONV to get an open-world game of this type.

If they waited to announce TESV until after FONV has been released and selling for a while, I would most likely buy it, and then buy TESV a little while after it is released; there probably won't be another open-world game of that scale for a while after TESV, so I would get it to have another one to play after I finish FONV, especially if I am a fan of the series.

I don't think that the announcement of TESV would kill the sales of FONV, since there are many big fans of the Fallout series, plenty of people who would welcome 2 open-world games in one year, and those who wouldn't even care about the announcement of TESV. However, why not wait on an announcement and maximize your sales? However small the number of people who wouldn't buy the game is, it certainly makes sense to wait on the announcement so that you get as many buyers as possible.

As for the other games being published at the same time, they are not related in any way to FONV or TESV in terms of gameplay or genre, so they don't affect the sales of FONV: I wouldn't say "I'll get this action/adventure game instead of the open-world RPG this year" unless I was the type of person who wasn't going to get FONV anyway.

EDIT: I would also like to point out that waiting to announce TESV will not hurt its sales at all.

[Natasha Biss]

snip

Ok, thank you for explaining it. But TES and Fallout would still be one year or so apart, (and between me and you, I'd dump FIFA )

[Annick Charron]

snip

Thats a bit over the top. Not to say your point isn't valid, but it seems a little extreme.

PS: I was kicked a few minutes ago, and I don't know why?

[lexy]

It's more of an issue for people who like to get as much variety out of games as possible with a limited budget.
snip

Soo.. basically what you are saying is that announcing Elder Scrolls V before Fallout: New Vegas wouldn't hurt the sales of either because you would end up getting both.... haha..

EDIT: grammatical errors

[Marcin Tomkow]

Soo.. basically what you are saying is that announcing Elder Scrolls V before Fallout: New Vegas wouldn't hurt the sales of either because you would end up getting both.... haha..

EDIT: grammatical errors

No, what I said is that if they announced TESV before FONV, the sales of FONV may drop a little.

I'm not trying to say that the drop in sales would be astronomical, but why take a chance that the sales would suffer even slightly? It's not like waiting to announce TESV is going to hurt its sales.

[Alkira rose Nankivell]

Seriously guys, my only perspective on why there isn't an announcement right now is because Pete and the gang over in Softworks have their hands full and can't devote adequate time and energy and resources that it would take to truly do marketing justice for TESV... their plates are simply full... that is why Todd said if Pete said, "okay show it!" they would be able to... we just need to let something release off the Softworks teams plate (like FONV) and they will give the "okay" to BGS to announce.

[SWagg KId]

Seriously guys, my only perspective on why there isn't an announcement right now is because Pete and the gang over in Softworks have their hands full and can't devote adequate time and energy and resources that it would take to truly do marketing justice for TESV... their plates are simply full... that is why Todd said if Pete said, "okay show it!" they would be able to... we just need to let something release off the Softworks teams plate (like FONV) and they will give the "okay" to BGS to announce.

Todd mentioned in the podcast that "the timing isn't quite right yet." and that if they were forced to show it now they'd be proud.

He also mentioned that a there's been lot of content added in 2010 and that there's a lot of game to play.

So I think they're waiting for something specific, or they're afraid to show it until it's nearly completed because of the "RAI" incident of TES:IV.

Although we don't really know he's specifically talking about TES:V. I'm just basing this off of the chance that he is.

[Juliet]

Seriously guys, my only perspective on why there isn't an announcement right now is because Pete and the gang over in Softworks have their hands full and can't devote adequate time and energy and resources that it would take to truly do marketing justice for TESV... their plates are simply full... that is why Todd said if Pete said, "okay show it!" they would be able to... we just need to let something release off the Softworks teams plate (like FONV) and they will give the "okay" to BGS to announce.

That's what I'm thinking, they're waiting until they have the money/resources to properly promote and publish TES V.

[electro_fantics]

That's what I'm thinking, they're waiting until they have the money/resources to properly promote and publish TES V.

That's actually a decent point. Could it be that they're waiting for the paychecks from F:NV to start rolling in so that they have capital with which to start marketing TESV?

[RAww DInsaww]

Although we don't really know he's specifically talking about TES:V. I'm just basing this off of the chance that he is.

It was all in the WAY he said that the "timing isn't quite right". He is really excited and likes it. He is practically screaming that it is TES 5.

So I'm 95% sure that it is TES 5.

[BEl J]

That's actually a decent point. Could it be that they're waiting for the paychecks from F:NV to start rolling in so that they have capital with which to start marketing TESV?

Very true, they've gotta pay for commercials, advertisemants in magazines, etc. Once it comes out. They also have to pay for the trailers too. I mean, once people hear about it they've gotta be ready to show 'em 'cause people are ravenous about TES.

It was all in the WAY he said that the "timing isn't quite right". He is really excited and likes it. He is practically screaming that it is TES 5.

So I'm 95% sure that it is TES 5.

:P

[Kevin Jay]

As far as not announcing TESV while FONV is in the tail-end of its pre-release marketing cycle, consider this: one of the most important (and time consuming) jobs that a company has to do is cover its rear. As its stands Bethesda is the rights-holder for Fallout, BGS developed the last game in the series, and now BSW has arranged to have Obsidian develop a follow-up, FONV. BSW will publish, promote and distribute FONV, and retain the rights to the property. People buy the game, and BSW and Obsidian get paid. That is the situation.

This is how the business works, in order to bankroll the development of a game, the publisher puts up some cash and assumes risk. Upon release, sales first pay back the money the publisher put in to fund the development and marketing, and further profits get carved up between profit for the publisher and bonuses for the developers. The bonuses are based on target sales figures agreed to in the deal between publisher and developer, and are generally considered private information (the specifics of these deals are rarely made public).

Now if FONV doesn't sell well -- for whatever reason -- and falls below agreed upon sales figures, the publisher (Beth) will not have to pay the developer (Obsidian) as much money in terms of scale or bonuses, and meanwhile -IF- Bethesda has been talking up TESV, Obsidian (or its share holders) could POTENTIALLY go crying to a judge and say that the publisher failed to promote the game fairly, and other junk, and it MIGHT become yet another messy lawsuit in the industry - it seems like a new lawsuit pops up monthly as it is.

NOW IT IS VERY UNLIKELY to ever play out like that, BUT the first rule in business is to CYA, and for that reason, among others, Bethesda has little to gain, and more to risk by announcing a game like TESV while it is handling the marketing and release of another major release. And when it comes to CYA, it is not the FACT that TESV could steal some of FONV's thunder, it is the PERCEPTION that matters.

I mean, people are looking forward to FONV, but you gotta admit, its not being called Fallout 4 for a reason. It is a weird situation where it seems like more of a really large expansion to Falllout 3; Fallout 3.5 maybe. The small percentage of the gaming public who knows that Obsidian employ some former Black Isle people who worked on the original Fallout games want to see what they will do with the engine and assets that Bethesda created when they changed their game from a turn based isometric game into a first person action-RPG, but the great majority of game shoppers don't have a clue about any of that. We have every reason to believe that TESV is going to be a major step forward, so it is quite likely that starting to talk and show assets from TESV will make FONV look even more like FO3.5 by comparison.

Compared to the potential failure to CYA as a publisher of the next "Oblivion with guns" game for another developer, and their desire not to have another RAI incident, as well as their stated intent to have the shortest time between announcement and release yet for their next game, what would Bethesda have to GAIN from announcing TESV before the end of the year?

Also, look at Id, around Quakecon they said that they're not talking about Doom 4 because they're promoting Rage -- another example of a game company focusing attention on one product that is closer to release and keeping the next game in the pipeline out of the spotlight.

[Jennifer Rose]

Is it just me, or has speculation really slowed down recently? Is it because we're runing out of things to speculate on? If so, it's about time Bethesda threw us a bone and said something . . . ANYTHING . . . about TESV!

Edit: It was just me. I just now saw the time of the last post. :blush:

[*Chloe*]

Is it just me, or has speculation really slowed down recently? Is it because we're runing out of things to speculate on? If so, it's about time Bethesda threw us a bone and said something . . . ANYTHING . . . about TESV!

Edit: It was just me. I just now saw the time of the last post. :blush:

Well, that and the fact that somebody seems to be necroposting topics from the beginning of the year makes me feel like I'm reading 'zombie-threads', yeah, things feel like they've slowed down... After four whole years and over sixty threads of speculation.