Elder Scrolls 6: Dev Fears Death Threats! Can it Top Skyrim?!

Former Bethesda artist Nate Purkeypile is bracing for impact. And by impact, he means the potential storm of negativity—perhaps even death threats—that could befall Bethesda when The Elder Scrolls 6 finally sees the light of day. Purkeypile, who spent over a decade at Bethesda, from 2007 to 2021, has some serious concerns about how the studio can possibly meet the sky-high expectations surrounding the sequel to the mega-hit Skyrim.

Elder Scrolls 6: Dev Fears Death Threats! Can it T...

Speaking to Esports Insider, Purkeypile, now heading up his own indie studio, Just Purkey Games, painted a rather bleak picture. According to him, both The Elder Scrolls 6 and future Fallout titles are facing a “no-win situation.” And honestly, he's got a point. How do you follow up a game as culturally significant as Skyrim? It's a daunting task, to say the least.

“Yes, and that definitely factored into me leaving because Skyrim being one of the top 10 games of all-time, how do you beat that?” Purkeypile stated. He continued, "If they do, great! And I hope it’s a great game, but even if it’s just as good as Skyrim was, you’ll still get so many people throwing out hateful comments. I’m sure there will be more death threats again. All of that stuff. It’s really unfortunate that that’s the way things have gone.” It’s a sad reality of modern gaming, really. The passion of the fanbase, sometimes, boils over into something far more toxic.

The wait for The Elder Scrolls 6 has been, well, let’s just say excruciating. We're talking about a development cycle that's already exceeded the time between Skyrim's release and the actual announcement of its successor. Skyrim hit shelves in November 2011, while the world got its first glimpse of The Elder Scrolls 6 in June 2018 – that’s 2,403 days! Now, almost eight years later, we’re still waiting. I remember seeing that initial teaser trailer – feels like a lifetime ago.

Even Bethesda's own Todd Howard acknowledged the agonizing wait this past June, on the sixth anniversary of the initial reveal. “Oh wow, that has been a while," he quipped. At least they're self-aware, right?

Bethesda has stated that The Elder Scrolls 6 entered "early development" in August 2023, and that "early builds" are now available as of March 2024. Still, Howard cautioned fans last year that the game was "still a long way off," urging everyone to exercise patience. More recently, studio design director Emil Pagliarulo cited the delays surrounding GTA 6 as justification for Bethesda's own extended development timeline, suggesting that fans would prefer a polished masterpiece over a rushed disappointment. I suppose only time will tell if that approach pays off.

Purkeypile suspects that the early announcement of The Elder Scrolls 6 was a strategic move to mitigate potential backlash surrounding the reveal of Starfield, given the lengthy period since Skyrim's launch. Whether that's true or not, one thing is clear: Bethesda has a Herculean task ahead of them. Let's just hope the final product is worth the wait... and that everyone keeps it civil, regardless.