Todd Howard’s ‘perfect vision’ for Elder Scrolls 6 is a shadow drop – and he sees Oblivion Remaster as a ‘test run’

Bethesda Studios is in marketing season for the new Fallout TV series, with Season 2 due to release on December 17. There’s also the 10th anniversary of Fallout 4’s launch, too, so if you’re a Fallout fan, it’s the season to be jolly.

Still, that’s not stopped Todd Howard talking about Elder Scrolls 6… Indirectly, of course. More specifically, he implies that he’d like the game to shadow drop at some point in the future, although he acknowledges it may not.

Could Elder Scrolls 6 be a shadow drop?

In an interview with GQ Magazine, Howard mentioned that Bethesda is working with Make-A-Wish to be able to put someone into Elder Scrolls 6, as well as mentioning an internal playtest for the individual in question.

Still, we’re seven years on from the game’s announcement, so when can we play it?

“I like to just announce stuff and release it,” Howard explained. “My perfect version – and I’m not saying this is going to happen – is that it’s going to be a while and then, one day, the game will just appear.”

Howard was asked about the Oblivion Remaster (which is where the images for this article are from) that shadow dropped earlier this year and said, “You might say that was a test run. It worked out well.”

Could a game as big as Elder Scrolls 6 be shadow-dropped, though, given the importance of marketing plans, a need to drive up Xbox Game Pass subscriptions, and whatever else?

The Oblivion Remake was eventually announced with a trailer mere days before the game went live, although by that point it was one of gaming’s worst-kept secrets.

This interview also corroborates what some “leakers” have said, with the game’s release date very far away indeed. Ah well, at least we have Oblivion and a dozen versions of Skyrim…