Bruce Nesmith, the lead designer of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, has shut down speculation about a potential TV adaptation.
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Nesmith worked at Bethesda Studios as a quest writer for Fallout 3, 4 and 76 as well as being involved with a number of Elder Scrolls games. In a new interview with PressBoxPR, the game developer praised Amazon Prime Video’s live-action adaptation of Fallout.
“I think it’s amazing. I love the Fallout TV series. I actually think it’s getting better the longer they go on. They’re hitting their stride. It’s still very much Fallout but they’re telling good stories of their own at the same time.”
Nesmith then explained it’s unlikely a Skyrim adaptation will happen because Fallout is “very special, unique and different” while The Elder Scrolls is “a standard kind of fantasy.”
Ella Purnell in ‘Fallout’ season two. CREDIT: Amazon Studios
“That’s not as interesting, not in this day and age where you already have The Lord Of The Rings and Game Of Thrones,” he continued. “There’s a dragon? I’ve seen dragons 20 times before. What are you giving to viewers that’s new? You’d have to try to find something to lean into that would be special about it. Maybe a movie [would work[ but I would struggle to see a TV show.”
He also believes Bethesda are unlikely to push for a Skyrim adaptation because it would earn them “peanuts” and the game studio doesn’t need the marketing for the upcoming The Elder Scrolls 6.
Back in 2024, Bethesda boss Todd Howard said there was “nothing in the works” in regards to a Skyrim adaptation. “Everybody asks about Elder Scrolls [adaptations] and I keep saying no. I’ll probably [keep] saying no. I can’t predict the future though.”
The Elder Scrolls 6 was first announced back in 2018 and “early development” for the follow-up to Skyrim began properly in 2021. In December, Bethesda boss Todd Howard confirmed the game was still a “long way off” with reports claiming the studio are looking at a 2028 launch window. Howard has also said Fallout 5 won’t launch until after The Elder Scrolls 6.
In other news Austin Wintory, the composer of Sword Of The Sea, has dedicated his Grammy win for Best Video Game Score to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
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