It has been quite awhile since we've heard anything regarding Bethesda Game Studios' two upcoming projects, Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6. First announced back at E3 2018, news on each title has been virtually silent over the past two years. However, after Microsoft announced this morning that it had purchased Bethesda's parent company ZeniMax Media, some small tidbits of info related to both games have now come about.

In a blog post talking about the Xbox acquisition, Bethesda Game Studios' Todd Howard talked a bit about the move and what it means for the developer moving forward. In short, Howard explained that Microsoft has been a partner with Bethesda as far back as the early 2000s when Morrowind was released on Xbox. Since then, the two companies have had a great working relationship.

Howard also talked briefly about both Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 in the post as well. While opting to not say too much, Howard said that the power of both the Xbox Series X and S will allow Bethesda Game Studios to make "vast worlds we love to create, with generational leaps not just in graphics, but CPU and data streaming as well." He also went on to say that both upcoming projects are being worked on in a retooled version of the studio's engine. "It’s led to our largest engine overhaul since Oblivion, with all new technologies powering our first new IP in 25 years, Starfield, as well as The Elder Scrolls VI," Howard said.

Bethesda confirming that it has reworked its game engine for both Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 isn't too shocking whatsoever. Over the years, Bethesda has been known to ship a lot of their games with bugs at launch, many of which seem to come about due to the engine. This overhaul of the engine is also likely part of the reason why we haven't heard anything about either title in so long. Making engine changes can take quite a long time and involves a lot of heavy lifting. Hopefully, the changes that have been made though will be beneficial in the long run.

We still have no idea when either The Elder Scrolls 6 or Starfield will be releasing, but we do now know that they'll each come to Xbox Game Pass at launch whenever that might be.