Starfield and TES VI: Bethesda ex-dev speaks out

Bethesda Softworks is naturally known for its RPGs, first and foremost those of The Elder Scrolls saga. However, as we all know, that series hasn't had any news for quite some time – with the exception of the Oblivion Remastered – and the much-anticipated The Elder Scrolls VI exists, doesn't exist, is there but unseen, was never there, you decide.

Recently, colleagues at PC Gamer had a chat with Kurt Kuhlmann, a developer who collaborated with Bethesda since the 90s and, from 2003, was part of the teams that created all TES games from Daggerfall onwards [thus excluding the progenitor Arena] and also worked on Fallout projects. In 2023, however, Kuhlmann resigned from the team; the reasons: "it was certainly the right time for a change: there were some things that had been going on for a long time that I wasn't super happy about."

Bethesda and Starfield strangled by bureaucracy

These "things" Kuhlmann refers to, he later explained, were related to the fact that the team no longer worked as it did in the beginning, i.e., as a handful of creatives gathered in a basement, all within earshot, but over time it had become an increasingly numerous and complex reality, first under Zenimax and then under Microsoft.

Corporate bureaucracy, in short, would have come at the expense of creativity and efficiency, leading to communication gaps: even communicating with creative director Todd Howard for urgent clarifications had become problematic. According to Kurt, this was the main problem for individuals involved in the development of Starfield, too often left without clear guidelines regarding the work to be done. "I didn't want to work that way – Kuhlmann explains – because I love making games and being hands-on."

The Elder Scrolls VI according to Kuhlmann

Another reason Kuhlmann decided to leave Bethesda was that Howard had at one point promised him he would direct the work on TES VI, only to go back on his word. On the other hand, he admits, the project he himself had drawn up for the storyboard of the sixth chapter had been rejected. Kurt had hypothesized a setting similar to "Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back" in which the "villains" would ultimately win [specifically the High Elves who usurped the imperial chain of command] leaving the story with a cliffhanger destined to conclude in TES VII. Given the development and publication times of the software house's projects, the idea of leaving the story in suspense was considered "unfeasible."

Starfield is available on PC and Xbox Series X/S, from which our Review; Bethesda's sci-fi RPG will also arrive on PS5 in 2026.