The Skyrim lead dev’s take on Morrowind has me really worried about Elder Scrolls 6

Skyrim lead developer Bruce Nesmith shared some harrowing thoughts regarding Morrowind with PressBoxPR. He claims fans only like it for nostalgia's sake and wouldn't enjoy playing it nowadays, for it is overcomplex and outdated. If Bethesda shares Nesmith's idea, this doesn't bode well for TES6.Skyrim is Bethesda's biggest game, but it's not even the best game of its year. Naturally, execs would like to repeat Skyrim's numbers, but they won't achieve that by making TES6 in Skyrim's image. While Skyrim is easily the biggest hit in Bethesda's catalog, that could be because it followed the company's upward turn with Morrowind and Oblivion, and greatly benefited from the massive gaming boom of the 2010s. While its combat is definitely one step above Morrowind's less action-y take, it's undeniable that Skyrim also faced serious criticism from players who found its gameplay systems too shallow and its world too barren, even for an ice-covered continent. This is the Internet, a place where a game that sold dozens of millions of units will always spawn dissenting voices that can very well even be bots. Still, I can invoke an elder and prescient IGN scroll called "Top Five Reasons Dark Souls Will Eat Skyrim's Face," to shed light on the matter. Among its various points, it cites Dark Souls' level complexity and challenge as a positive over Skyrim, a bold move considering this post was made before everyone had fallen head over heels for Souls games. Screenshot by Destructoid That piece came out even before the release of Dark Souls, but it was evident that Dark Souls would only double down on what made people love Demon's Souls, whereas Skyrim was just a simplification of Morrowind. I believe that the challenge level alone makes Dark Souls ultimately the better game for me, but, more importantly, it also puts Dark Souls much closer to Morrowind than to Skyrim. And, guess what, the Souls games have also done very well saleswise. There's just no telling how Skyrim would have sold had it been more like Morrowind. I agree that Bethesda shouldn't be working on a Morrowind remaster, because I want them to focus on new stuff. Still, the never-ceasing activity on Morrowind mod pages and the constant work on fan-made Morrowind remasters easily disprove the theory that people don't like it. I wasn't the only one getting irked by Nesmith's take. Even Larian's Michael "Cromwelp" Douse had to intervene, commenting that a Morrowind remake with modern combat would sell like expletive deleted hot cakes.https://twitter.com/Cromwelp/status/2017752820913434903 Nesmith also talked about The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, and its remaster, which he described as less outdated, but still so. Despite having sold well, Nesmith believes players only got the game to revisit some areas they're fond of, then dropped it. Now, whether many players dropped the game because it's outdated, you cannot deny that Oblivion has a rather short campaign, so it's not surprising for a veteran to finish it quickly. The Oblivion remaster is also infamously plagued by some serious optimization issues that cause the game to run poorly on most machines, another possible explanation for such sudden abandonment. But maybe, just maybe, it's because the actual lack of depth and challenge doesn't captivate the much more proficient gamers of today to keep playing an unchallenging title they already excel at.Any reading on modern gaming history shows that players want to pay AAA money for rich and complex experiences Breath of the Wild, Elden Ring, Baldur's Gate 3, and Expedition 33 have all excelled critically and commercially because the truth is, players like difficult and complex systems, and they actively dislike dumbed-down experiences. It's AAA publishers who somehow believe we don't. Even after people have grown to like Fallout less after its simplification from Fallout 2 to 3, and then its absolute dilution into Fallout 4. Players want to be challenged in areas they know, and to be surprised with new challenges. Two years ago, players didn't know they wanted turn-based games with actual mechanical parrying action; now we might never enjoy classic turn-based RPGs because we'll be missing Expedition 33's kinetic revolution. We also want RPGs with deep and complex gameplay systems and big maps filled with hard-to-find stuff, and always will. I believe Skyrim is the game that would struggle to sell nowadays, were it releasing for the first time, if its reissues weren't such a tradition already. The post The Skyrim lead dev’s take on Morrowind has me really worried about Elder Scrolls 6 appeared first on Destructoid.

Feb 10, 2026 - 23:49

The Skyrim lead dev’s take on Morrowind has me really worried about Elder Scrolls 6

Skyrim lead developer Bruce Nesmith shared some harrowing thoughts regarding Morrowind with PressBoxPR. He claims fans only like it for nostalgia's sake and wouldn't enjoy playing it nowadays, for it is overcomplex and outdated. If Bethesda shares Nesmith's idea, this doesn't bode well for TES6.

Skyrim is Bethesda's biggest game, but it's not even the best game of its year.

Naturally, execs would like to repeat Skyrim's numbers, but they won't achieve that by making TES6 in Skyrim's image. While Skyrim is easily the biggest hit in Bethesda's catalog, that could be because it followed the company's upward turn with Morrowind and Oblivion, and greatly benefited from the massive gaming boom of the 2010s. While its combat is definitely one step above Morrowind's less action-y take, it's undeniable that Skyrim also faced serious criticism from players who found its gameplay systems too shallow and its world too barren, even for an ice-covered continent.

This is the Internet, a place where a game that sold dozens of millions of units will always spawn dissenting voices that can very well even be bots. Still, I can invoke an elder and prescient IGN scroll called "Top Five Reasons Dark Souls Will Eat Skyrim's Face," to shed light on the matter.

Among its various points, it cites Dark Souls' level complexity and challenge as a positive over Skyrim, a bold move considering this post was made before everyone had fallen head over heels for Souls games.

Screenshot by Destructoid That piece came out even before the release of Dark Souls, but it was evident that Dark Souls would only double down on what made people love Demon's Souls, whereas Skyrim was just a simplification of Morrowind.

I believe that the challenge level alone makes Dark Souls ultimately the better game for me, but, more importantly, it also puts Dark Souls much closer to Morrowind than to Skyrim. And, guess what, the Souls games have also done very well saleswise. There's just no telling how Skyrim would have sold had it been more like Morrowind.

I agree that Bethesda shouldn't be working on a Morrowind remaster, because I want them to focus on new stuff. Still, the never-ceasing activity on Morrowind mod pages and the constant work on fan-made Morrowind remasters easily disprove the theory that people don't like it.

I wasn't the only one getting irked by Nesmith's take. Even Larian's Michael "Cromwelp" Douse had to intervene, commenting that a Morrowind remake with modern combat would sell like expletive deleted hot cakes.

https://twitter.com/Cromwelp/status/2017752820913434903 Nesmith also talked about The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, and its remaster, which he described as less outdated, but still so. Despite having sold well, Nesmith believes players only got the game to revisit some areas they're fond of, then dropped it. Now, whether many players dropped the game because it's outdated, you cannot deny that Oblivion has a rather short campaign, so it's not surprising for a veteran to finish it quickly. The Oblivion remaster is also infamously plagued by some serious optimization issues that cause the game to run poorly on most machines, another possible explanation for such sudden abandonment. But maybe, just maybe, it's because the actual lack of depth and challenge doesn't captivate the much more proficient gamers of today to keep playing an unchallenging title they already excel at.

Any reading on modern gaming history shows that players want to pay AAA money for rich and complex experiences

Breath of the Wild, Elden Ring, Baldur's Gate 3, and Expedition 33 have all excelled critically and commercially because the truth is, players like difficult and complex systems, and they actively dislike dumbed-down experiences. It's AAA publishers who somehow believe we don't. Even after people have grown to like Fallout less after its simplification from Fallout 2 to 3, and then its absolute dilution into Fallout 4.

Players want to be challenged in areas they know, and to be surprised with new challenges. Two years ago, players didn't know they wanted turn-based games with actual mechanical parrying action; now we might never enjoy classic turn-based RPGs because we'll be missing Expedition 33's kinetic revolution.

We also want RPGs with deep and complex gameplay systems and big maps filled with hard-to-find stuff, and always will. I believe Skyrim is the game that would struggle to sell nowadays, were it releasing for the first time, if its reissues weren't such a tradition already.

The post The Skyrim lead dev’s take on Morrowind has me really worried about Elder Scrolls 6 appeared first on Destructoid.

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