The suspense is killing me. Oblivion was originally release three years ago, yet we have heard nothing about TES V. Where is it? I'm afraid that this might be the end of the series, or at least for a long while. I only received Oblivon last year, but I want another Elder Scrolls game. Is another Elder Scrolls game coming? Based on previous Elder Scrolls games' release dates, TES V should be either nearly complete, or at least in the making. All information would be appreciated.

Dont worry, they are making new novels, which means the series is still alive.

Then why is there no information on TES V? How are they going to deal with the royal bloodline being gone?

Very few people know of its details, and I have sworn an oath.
Sorry.

Seriously though, why have we not heard ANYTHING on TES V? We don't even know if it is being made or if there are plans for it. I'm not even looking for details, just something.

http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1045189

A collection of all news sources we can dig up, and speculation based on those news sources.

The current facts:
Nothing has been announced about TES:V.
Bethesda has said they do indeed plan to make a TES:V, via Pete Hines' http://bethblog.com/index.php/2009/08/17/clarifying-about-next-elder-scrolls-game-mmo-etc/.
Bethesda has admitted to currently working on an in-house title, the name of which has not been released, as further noted in Pete's clarification on BethBlog. They have refused to give out any more info than that.
Bethesda is currently holding a trademark on the name "Skyrim", for purposes of a title for interactive media. They have filed numerous (costly) extensions to hold onto that trademark, and it's the only relevant one they hold.

Speculative inference based upon above info: They are working on TES:V.

Further facts:
Bethesda is releasing two Elder Scrolls novels, the first of which, the Infernal City, comes out this November.

Anecdotal observation:
Media such as video games can often benefit in a marketing sense by the presence of corroborating media, such as books or movies. Releasing a lesser form of media while announcing the more anticipated media could create a potential windfall of marketing strategy, bolstering the sales and hype for both forms of media.

Further speculative inference based upon above info:
Bethesda just might announce TES:V sometime around the release of these novels.




Bethesda as a company always holds their cards close to their chests. They don't breathe a word about potential titles until they are significantly far along in their project. It cuts down on over-speculative and over-reactionary hype that is actually damaging to the game (cue pre-release Oblivon), and it allows them to get all their ducks in a row for maximizing effect and profits. It allows them much more developmental flexibility for release dates, so they're not beholden to fans too early in the game and can more accurately decide how long a game will take to get the fullest out of its features. It also ensures that they'll have something substantial to show when the time comes, as opposed to just saying, "Oh yeah, this game's coming out at this time, but we've got nothing to show for it at the moment."

I contacted bethesda and they just said there not allowed to give any information about it.

I hope so. Still, three years have passed and we haven't seen anything. When does E3 take place? Oblivion was released only four years after Morrowind's original release. For those of you who remember pre-Oblvion Bethesda, when did they finally announce that they were working on TES IV?

That'll be their standard "We'll let you know when we're ready" email.


Bethesda never announces at E3 or any other big gaming expo. They demoed Oblivion there, but Oblivion had been announced since the previous September, and E3 takes place in June. 3 years is hardly that long of a wait; Daggerfall fans had to wait a grand total of 6 years for Morrowind to come about, not counting the Redguard action-adventure game. And, as mentioned, there were 4 years between Morrowind and Oblivion.

Oblivion was announced via Bethesda's Elderscrolls.com site (nothing more than a blurb), and a big announcement and reveal in Game Informer magazine.
EDIT: Here's that Elderscrolls http://www.elderscrolls.com/news/news_0403.htm, if you're interested. Scroll down to the 9.10.04 date to find it.

Arena fans only waited 2 years for Daggerfall, right?

I too think something will be announced when the books are released

I believe so. But (and not to play down the massive undertaking that was Daggerfall) the game is a lesson in randomly-generated content, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, it does cut down on the actual time that needs to be invested. Bethesda as a company now focuses a lot more on hand-touched detail (some, myself included, would argue they need to refocus even more on hand-touched detail). While Oblivion's overworld was procedurally generated, the amount of guidance and constraint via generation variables is a lot more work than what Daggerfall's overworld is. Oblivion's dungeons were all hand-built (or at the very least hand-built once in a dev warehouse cell and then copy-pasted in bits and pieces), whereas only the MQ-related dungeons in Daggerfall could say that much, while the rest were all procedurally generated and then given a brief look-over to make sure they had at least the tiniest trace of coherence.

Further, Daggerfall was released buggy as hell, and that's largely thanks to a way-too-early deadline and the lack of a proper QA testing timeframe.

There is no need to start new topics speculating about TES V when there is one already open.

http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1045189