Bethesda showed off its brand new sci-fi IPStarfieldat this year’s E3 with a teaser trailer that left a lot to the imagination. The trailer revealed little about the game, however, with the footage being captured in-game, fans received some insight into what future Bethesda titles could look like. Though Bethesda’s new version of the Creation Engine is unknown to many,Starfieldshowed with its teaser trailer that the future is bright.
Starfield’srelease datewas even revealed at the E3 conference. The game is set to release on the 11th anniversary of the initial release ofSkyrim, possibly hinting at the regard to which Bethesda holdsStarfield. It seems as thoughStarfieldis viewed as the next big IP for Bethesda. WhileStarfield’sannouncement did suggest a lot about the scale of the project, it also exposes the strangeness of the circumstances under which it was announced. E3 2018 was an odd one for Bethesda for many reasons, andStarfield’steaser just throws up more questions.
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The Elder Scrolls 6’s Strange Announcement
The Elder Scrolls 6announcementwas one of the more notable moments of E3 2018.Elder Scrollsfans had been patiently waiting for the next mainline entry, and with almost seven years passing from the release ofSkyrim, that patience was beginning to run out. The trailer came at the perfect time to alleviate tensions, but it lacked substance. The trailer amounted to a panning shot over rolling desert hills, with the title ofThe Elder Scrolls 6fading into view at the end.
The announcement trailer forThe Elder Scrolls 6didn’t tease a more specific title, but this seemed to work in the game’s favor. Fans were offered little in the way of details, however,Elder Scrollsfans saw an opportunity to put their expertise to use by deducing the setting. Fans believeThe Elder Scrolls 6to be set in Hammerfell, but they didn’t come to this conclusion with any sort of ease because details were very sparse.
Many years on from E3 2018 and very little in the way of information or leaks have seen the light of day. In an interview regardingStarfield, Todd Howard revealed thatThe Elder Scrolls 6is in a design phase. Three years have passed since the game’s announcement andThe Elder Scrolls 6appears no closer to release than it did in 2018. This has left fans with many questions, centering around why it was announced so early. The trailer also showed off a beautifully rendered landscape, adding further confusion to the circumstances of the game’s announcement. It seems as thoughThe Elder Scrolls 6is still some way off, but the reveal ofStarfieldcould spell good news for patientElder Scrollsfans.
A Massive Departure From The Fallout Franchise
Fallout 76was initially announced to raucous applause, but the excitement died down somewhat as the trailer revealed more about the game. The end result ofFallout 76was fairly strange given its ties to one of the most well-known RPGs in gaming.NPCs inFallout 76were nonexistent at launch, which left fans feeling as though the core experience ofFalloutwas missing. A series perhaps best known for its NPC interactions and quests had released a title without NPCs. The motivation behind the game from a Bethesda perspective was unclear, however, the goal for player interactions to fill the void left by the NPC’s absence seemed to be a failure.
One thing thatFallout 76had going for it was that it was actually slated for a release that year. UnlikeStarfield,The Elder Scrolls 6, andDoom Eternal, fans actually knew when they could playFallout 76, and it was soon. The problem was the beta release ofFallout 76exposed a number of the game’s drawbacks, with many remarking that it felt unfinished. Of course, it was at that stage as plenty of content has been added post-release to leave the game in a drastically different state.
This different take on theFalloutfranchisewas announced and released just 3 years afterFallout 4. Many fans weren’t expecting news of a newFalloutgame for many years to come, yet Bethesda released a game that bore little resemblance to theFalloutfans had grown to love. This was possibly one of the greatest oddities of the E3 conference as it was unexpected and such a deviation from the series norm.
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Starfield Coming Out 2022
E3 2018 was an oddity for Bethesda. The conference was packed full of announcements, yetFallout 76was the only major announcement that really needed to be at E3 2018.Fallout 76,Starfield, andThe Elder Scrolls 6were all at vastly different stages in their development, as is evidenced byStarfield’steaser trailer. For bothStarfieldandThe Elder Scrolls 6, a release date was a long way off, butFallout 76could have benefitted from being afforded the same patience.
AtBethesda’s E3 conferencein 2018,The Elder Scrolls 6andStarfieldboth looked to be in similar stages of development. Neither game was afforded much time at the conference, but each received a title reveal. If anything, the panoramic view ofThe Elder Scrolls 6’slandscape suggested it was that game that was closer to completion. But it isStarfieldthat now has a release date, following a year of leaks and rumors, whileThe Elder Scrolls 6lies in a stagnant design phase. What is now clear when reflecting on E3 2018 is that neither game had progressed very far beyond an idea at that stage, but that raises the question of why Bethesda decided to announce them so soon.
Bethesda’s E3 2018 may have been the result of a lack of upcoming projects. When looking at the significant announcements from Bethesda that year,Wolfenstein Young BloodandDoom Eternalwere the big upcoming ones, but they released in 2019 and 2020 respectively. Frustration among fans was growing at the time, and Bethesda needed E3 to be a big hit. The announcement ofStarfieldandThe Elder Scrolls 6proved to be enough to tide over fan’s anger, while the early release ofFallout 76gave them something in the short term.Fallout 76could well have benefitted from receiving the same patient treatment asStarfieldandThe Elder Scrolls 6, but instead, it released in a rough state.
Starfield’s teaser trailer shows just how impressiveBethesda’s new Creation Enginecan be.Starfieldlooked far removed from the likes ofFallout 76and it makes Bethesda fans wonder what could have been. Despite the numerous question marks surrounding Bethesda’s E3 that year,Fallout 76remains the most perplexing. The game was rushed to the masses following very little expectation of a newFalloutgame, and it ultimately proved to be among the most unfaithful successors in gaming.
Starfieldlaunches July 12, 2025 on PC and Xbox Series X/S.
