Ex-Skyrim Director Offers Insight on The Elder Scrolls 6 Story Direction: “I believe it will remain ambiguous, with no clear victor.”

The Elder Scrolls 6 appears to be in the early stages of development, leaving us in the dark about its storyline. However, that hasn’t stopped the community from diving into speculation. Recently, Bruce Nesmith, the lead designer of Skyrim who departed from Bethesda Game Studios in 2021, shared his thoughts on the matter.

In a conversation with an outlet, Nesmith was asked how he envisions Elder Scrolls 6 addressing continuity with Skyrim, particularly regarding the civil war between the Imperial Legion and the Stormcloaks. He offered a guess, stating, “I don’t know, but if I were to hazard a guess, and this is just purely a swag, I would say they will leave it undefined or leave it as neither side really won.”

Nesmith, who has transitioned from game development to writing fantasy novels, mentioned a common phrase from his development days: “put your toys away.” This phrase serves as a reminder to preserve smaller, less grand narratives—like guilds—so that future entries can maintain continuity.

He elaborated, “The big grand stories, you want those to make the sweeping changes. That’s what is cool and exciting, that the world is dynamic. But if I’m doing a thieves guild storyline, I usually want to put my toys away. I want to make sure that the next guy who has to do a thieves guild storyline isn’t highly limited or constrained by what I did so that they have the open world to be able to explore and have a new storyline.”

Nesmith pointed out that guilds are often region-specific, with the guild in Skyrim being local to that area, while another guild elsewhere could have a completely different narrative. However, he emphasized that dragons are a constant presence, stating, “Dragons are here to stay. Dragons are the new big thing. Dragons are a world change.”

As for the setting of Elder Scrolls 6, it’s still a mystery. The prevailing theory suggests it may take place in Hammerfell. Former Bethesda Game Studios loremaster Kurt Kuhlmann mentioned that the location might have been decided during the development of Fallout 4, noting it was “more of a consensus” at that time.

One thing is certain: Elder Scrolls 6 will “most definitely” feature more trees than Skyrim, as confirmed by Todd Howard himself.