Former Bethesda Design Director Suggests Elder Scrolls 6 Will Embrace Skyrim's Progression System

In a recent interview with MinnMax, Bruce Nesmith, the former lead designer of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and senior designer on Starfield, indicated that the highly anticipated Elder Scrolls 6 is likely to retain the leveling up and progression system that made Skyrim iconic. While Nesmith no longer works at Bethesda, his insights carry weight, given his influential role at the company until his departure in 2021.

The progression system in Skyrim is reminiscent of traditional role-playing games, where players improve specific skills by using related items and abilities. For instance, using a bow and arrow enhances the Archery skill, while employing stealth tactics increases Sneak proficiency. Advancing within these skill trees contributes to an overall experience bar, allowing players to level up their characters.

Nesmith revealed, "The whole, 'you do it to get better at it,' while that was not my unique idea, I had a large hand in that. That's absolutely going to continue. A lot of the concepts dealing with how you level and things like that, there'll be a bunch of new ideas thrown in, but I'm betting some of the stuff that I worked on will still survive to the new one."

However, Elder Scrolls fans may have to wait until 2028 to see if these hints become reality. Bethesda's focus on the space epic Starfield means that the Elder Scrolls 6 release is at least five years away, with a minimum of 17 years passing since Skyrim's debut. In the meantime, dedicated fans continue to extend the Skyrim experience with mods and recreations in other games.

Elder Scrolls 6 was officially announced in 2018, but Todd Howard, Bethesda's director and executive producer, admitted in 2023 that he might have handled the announcement differently. The game is currently in the early stages of development, leaving fans eager to learn more about its features and progression system.