Ex-Bethesda Designer Tipped To Lead The Elder Scrolls VI Said The Game Was Going To Be Like ‘The Empire Strikes Back’

Kurt Kuhlmann, a former Bethesda designer who was once attached to lead The Elder Scrolls VI project, has revealed during an interview with PC gamer that his idea of the fantasy-RPG would have been along the lines of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

Kuhlmann is no stranger to The Elder Scrolls, as he’s worked on nearly every entry in the long-running franchise during his 20-year career at Bethesda, including serving as the co-lead designer on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. In regards to his vision The Elder Scrolls VI, Kuhlmann said it would have seen evil forces emerging victorious and would end on a cliffhanger, leading into a chance of revenge for The Elder Scrolls VII.

“I had in my mind that TES6 was going to be like The Empire Strikes Back,” said Kuhlmann. He added that the player might have “secretly saved the day” by saving a heir to the throne, giving hope for next time around, “but overall it looks like the Thalmor are on the march.”

I was obviously one of the old-timers there and had a lot of experience. Bruce [Nesmith] and I had been the co-leads on Skyrim. I think most people would call it a successful project, so I thought that it wasn’t unreasonable for me to think that I could be a successful lead on TES6. It wasn’t just my expectation – I had been told that that was going to happen. And they made the decision, no, you’re not going to be the lead.

This didn’t pan out, and Bethesda instead offered Kuhlmann a role on the project, which was apparently described as “an important role” by Bethesda’s Todd Howard. “But what I wanted and what he wanted were different at that point,” he added. In the end, Kuhlmann decided to leave Bethesda Game Studios in 2023.

The Elder Scrolls VI is still in production at Bethesda, and while no release date has been announced, Howard said late last year during an interview that development is “progressing really well.”

Earlier this week, former Bethesda artist Nate Purkeypike stated that the reason TES6 was announced so soon is due to the fact it had been so long since Skyrim had come out, and Bethesda wanted to make sure folk “were not just pissed at us.”

[Source – PCGamer via Eurogamer]