Todd Howard confirms Fallout 5 is coming - but not until after The Elder Scrolls 6

Fallout fans, we've got good news and bad news for you, fresh from Todd Howard himself. The good news? Fallout 5 is already planned. The bad news? It'll be Bethesda Game Studios' next game - not after the upcoming Starfield, but after The Elder Scrolls VI, which is currently in pre-production at the studio.

For over fifteen years now, Bethesda Game Studios has followed a tick-tock release cadence with Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, working on one and then the other, back and forth. Oblivion was followed by Fallout 3, which was followed by Skyrim, which gave way to Fallout 4. Of course, there's been a great disruptor: Starfield, the all-new space-faring RPG from BGS.

This week has been something of a Starfield news bonanza, which us finally getting a look at how the game plays. As part of that media blitz, Bethesda Game Studios boss Todd Howard has been doing the media rounds - and was asked about Fallout 5 during an interview with IGN. 

"Yes, Elder Scrolls VI is in pre-production," Howard said of the studio's next big project after Starfield. "And, you know, we’re going to be doing Fallout 5 after that, so our slate’s pretty full going forward for a while. We have some other projects that we look at from time to time as well."

Previously, Howard had told IGN that the studio had "a one-pager on Fallout 5" with an outline of what his team wants to do with that game. The wait to find out what secrets that one page holds will be long, however.

The next chapter in The Elder Scrolls series was originally announced at the same time as Starfield, way back in 2018. It was announced with a simple CG teaser, and seemed to only have been revealed in order to placate a section of Bethesda's fans disappointed to get a new series and universe in Starfield rather than one fans already have an affinity for. Betheda's sole focus has been on Starfield, however - so it's early days for that game, and therefore also the next Fallout.

But, if nothing else, we now know the plan of Bethesda Game Studios in the broadest sense. Some time in 2023, we'll get Starfield. At that point, the studio's focus will shift to the next Elder Scrolls. Then, finally, after that, we'll get Fallout 5. If a real-life nuclear armageddon doesn't get us first, anyway. In the meantime, Fallout fans can head back to the Wasteland in Fallout 76 - a new expansion where players will venture to The Pitt is out in September.