Starfield’s release date was even revealed at the E3 conference. The game is set to release on the 11th anniversary of the initial release of Skyrim, possibly hinting at the regard to which Bethesda holds Starfield. It seems as though Starfield is viewed as the next big IP for Bethesda. While Starfield’s announcement 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, and Starfield’s teaser just throws up more questions.

RELATED: Starfield Needs to Learn One Lesson From Fallout: New Vegas

The Elder Scrolls 6’s Strange Announcement

The Elder Scrolls 6 announcement was one of the more notable moments of E3 2018. Elder Scrolls fans had been patiently waiting for the next mainline entry, and with almost seven years passing from the release of Skyrim, 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 of The Elder Scrolls 6 fading into view at the end.

The announcement trailer for The Elder Scrolls 6 didn’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 Scrolls fans saw an opportunity to put their expertise to use by deducing the setting. Fans believe The Elder Scrolls 6 to 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 regarding Starfield, Todd Howard revealed that The Elder Scrolls 6 is in a design phase. Three years have passed since the game’s announcement and The Elder Scrolls 6 appears 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 though The Elder Scrolls 6 is still some way off, but the reveal of Starfield could spell good news for patient Elder Scrolls fans.

A Massive Departure From The Fallout Franchise

Fallout 76 was initially announced to raucous applause, but the excitement died down somewhat as the trailer revealed more about the game. The end result of Fallout 76 was fairly strange given its ties to one of the most well-known RPGs in gaming. NPCs in Fallout 76 were nonexistent at launch, which left fans feeling as though the core experience of Fallout was 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 that Fallout 76 had going for it was that it was actually slated for a release that year. Unlike Starfield, The Elder Scrolls 6, and Doom Eternal, fans actually knew when they could play Fallout 76, and it was soon. The problem was the beta release of Fallout 76 exposed 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 the Fallout franchise was announced and released just 3 years after Fallout 4. Many fans weren’t expecting news of a new Fallout game for many years to come, yet Bethesda released a game that bore little resemblance to the Fallout fans 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.

RELATED: Starfield May Be More Blade Runner Than Cyberpunk 2077 

Starfield Coming Out 2022

E3 2018 was an oddity for Bethesda. The conference was packed full of announcements, yet Fallout 76 was the only major announcement that really needed to be at E3 2018. Fallout 76, Starfield, and The Elder Scrolls 6 were all at vastly different stages in their development, as is evidenced by Starfield’s teaser trailer. For both Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6, a release date was a long way off, but Fallout 76 could have benefitted from being afforded the same patience.

At Bethesda’s E3 conference in 2018, The Elder Scrolls 6 and Starfield both 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 of The Elder Scrolls 6’s landscape suggested it was that game that was closer to completion. But it is Starfield that now has a release date, following a year of leaks and rumors, while The Elder Scrolls 6 lies 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 Blood and Doom Eternal were 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 of Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 proved to be enough to tide over fan’s anger, while the early release of Fallout 76 gave them something in the short term. Fallout 76 could well have benefitted from receiving the same patient treatment as Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6, but instead, it released in a rough state.

Starfield’s teaser trailer shows just how impressive Bethesda’s new Creation Engine can be. Starfield looked far removed from the likes of Fallout 76 and it makes Bethesda fans wonder what could have been. Despite the numerous question marks surrounding Bethesda’s E3 that year, Fallout 76 remains the most perplexing. The game was rushed to the masses following very little expectation of a new Fallout game, and it ultimately proved to be among the most unfaithful successors in gaming.

Starfield launches November 11, 2022 on PC and Xbox Series X/S.

MORE: Bethesda’s Confidence in Starfield’s Release Date is Telling