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Todd Howard Engages Reddit Community on Creation Engine 3 for Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5 Amid Player Bug Concerns
Developed over time first seen 4 months ago
Bethesda's Todd Howard has been active on Reddit gathering community input for the development of Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5, characterising himself as a "professional lurker" who values fan ideas. He has publicly praised the technical team behind Creation Engine 3, the next-generation engine that will power both upcoming franchises.
While Howard's engagement and optimism about the new technology signal the studio's commitment to these projects, the player community remains sceptical. Long-standing concerns about Bethesda's historical pattern of releasing games riddled with technical issues have led many fans to doubt whether a new engine will meaningfully address quality control. The discord between leadership enthusiasm and community apprehension underscores persistent trust issues stemming from past launches.
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In short
- Todd Howard actively solicits community feedback on Reddit for Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5 development
- Creation Engine 3 praised by leadership, but players harbour doubts given Bethesda's documented history of buggy releases
- Community scepticism reflects unresolved quality concerns despite studio's direct engagement efforts
How this story developed
- 4 months ago Bethesda's Todd Howard has been active on Reddit gathering community input for the development of Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5, characterising himself as a "professional lurker" who values fan ideas.
- GamesRadar+ As Bethesda pushes ahead with The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, “professional lurker” Todd Howard returns to Reddit to say “you’d be surprised how many great ideas I get” here
- GamesRadar+ As Bethesda boss Todd Howard praises Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5’s “incredible” tech team, fans aren’t convinced Creation Engine 3 is a good idea: “Gonna release in an absolute buggy mess”
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The creation of a new engine represents a genuine technical opportunity to address past quality concerns, and Todd Howard's direct engagement with the community demonstrates leadership commitment to meaningful improvement. A new technological foundation can facilitate better development practices and quality control, whilst industry precedent shows that studio evolution and reinvestment often do improve output over time.
The case against
Bethesda's multi-decade track record of releasing technically problematic games suggests systemic issues beyond the engine itself, and community enthusiasm for leadership statements has historically proven premature when actual releases arrive riddled with bugs. Without demonstrated changes in development processes, quality assurance practices, or post-launch support, a new engine alone is unlikely to overcome the organisational patterns that have led players to depend on community modding for years.
Explained simply
Bethesda's Elder Scrolls and Fallout games are built using an in-house piece of software called an "engine," which handles the technical side of running the game world. The next version of this software, Creation Engine 3, will power both Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5, two of the studio's most anticipated upcoming releases. Todd Howard is Bethesda's long-serving director and public face, known for shaping the direction of these franchises.
Howard has been engaging directly with fans on Reddit, describing himself as someone who reads fan discussions closely and takes their ideas into account during development. He has also spoken positively about the team working on the new engine, framing it as a sign of progress for the studio's future games.
This matters because Bethesda has a history of releasing games with noticeable technical bugs at launch, which has left some players wary of promises about new technology fixing old problems. The gap between Howard's optimism and fans' scepticism reflects a broader, ongoing debate about trust between the studio and its player base ahead of two highly anticipated releases.
Coverage · 2 sources
- GamesRadar+As Bethesda boss Todd Howard praises Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5’s “incredible” tech team, fans aren’t convinced Creation Engine 3 is a good idea: “Gonna release in an absolute buggy mess”
- GamesRadar+As Bethesda pushes ahead with The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, “professional lurker” Todd Howard returns to Reddit to say “you’d be surprised how many great ideas I get” here