Former Skyrim lead shares his own theory on how The Elder Scrolls 6 will continue the story: "I would say they will leave it undefined or leave it as neither side really won"

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Former Skyrim lead shares his own theory on how The Elder Scrolls 6 will continue the story: "I would say they will leave it undefined or leave it as neither side really won" News By Jordan Gerblick published 31 January 2026

"I would say either just not deal with what happened in the civil war or leave it and say there was a civil war but it didn't really come to a complete conclusion"

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The Elder Scrolls 6 seems to still be pretty early in development, and thus we don't know much (read: anything) about its story, but naturally, there's plenty of theorizing and speculation. The latest to do so is none other than Bruce Nesmith, who was lead designer on Skyrim and who left Bethesda Game Studios in 2021.

In an interview with Press Box PR, Nesmith was asked how he thinks Elder Scrolls 6 will handle the issue of continuity with Skyrim, which lets players choose sides in the civil war between the Imperial Legion and the Stormcloaks.

"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 said.

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The veteran game developer turned fantasy novelist explained that a common phrase used during his time in game development was "put your toys away," which sounds like a reminder to leave smaller, less epic stories and lore - like guilds, to use his example - in-tact for continuity's sake in future entries.

"The big grand stories, you want those to make the sweeping changes. That's what is cool and exciting, that the world is dynamic," added Nesmith. "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. 

"That's why things like the guilds typically are more region-centered. The guild in Skyrim is local to that area. The guild over here could do something completely different. But dragons? Dragons are here to stay. Dragons are the new big thing. Dragons are a world change."

Probably the biggest unknown at this stage is where Elder Scrolls 6 will take place. Nothing's official yet, but the leading theory by far is Hammerfell. Either way, former Bethesda Game Studios loremaster Kurt Kuhlmann recently said the setting may have been decided as far back as Fallout 4's development, saying "it was more of a consensus" at the time.

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One thing's for sure: Elder Scrolls 6 will "most definitely" have more trees than Skyrim, according to Todd Howard himself.

TOPICS Bethesda Game Studios Bethesda Softworks CATEGORIES PC Gaming Xbox Series X PS5 Nintendo Switch 2 Platforms Xbox PlayStation Nintendo Jordan GerblickSocial Links Navigation

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.

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