"We're constantly listening."

Image credit: Bethesda

Following sweeping layoffs across the entire Xbox division earlier this month, Bethesda shared a surprisingly transparent roadmap about the Fallout and The Elder Scrolls projects it's making. Now, Bethesda Game Studios leader Todd Howard has returned to Reddit after a six-month hiatus to thank fans for their support.

His comments come after confirmation that Bethesda Game Studios will be working more closely with other studios in the future, such as Obsidian Entertainment on a future Fallout project and with ZeniMax Online on The Elder Scrolls' ongoing development.

Until recently, Howard's last comment on Reddit had been about a Fallout 4 mod which had a cardboard cutout of him hunting players. "Dear Reddit, please never change," he posted six months ago (hat tip to GamesRadar). He was more serious in light of the recent news when he reappeared, though. "Today's info was an attempt at changing that and letting everyone know what we've been working on the past several years, and a look at what's coming," he explained, referencing how secretive he and the teams had been in recent times.

Howard said he's "a professional lurker" on the Reddit forum and likes to keep tabs on what people are saying, whether it's good or bad. "Know we're constantly listening and keep telling us how to be even better," he said. "You'd be surprised how many great ideas I get from Reddit." Recent updates to Starfield suggest community requests do play a part in how Bethesda Game Studios continues to shape its games.

While Fallout 5 had been 'soft-confirmed' a while ago by Howard and we'd been hearing a lot about potential Fallout 3 and New Vegas remasters, many were still left wondering about what was happening with the franchise currently elevated by the success of Amazon's Fallout show.

News that Xbox is focusing on Fallout going forwards tallies with new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma promising a bigger focus on the brand's largest IPs. However, excitement around these projects has been significantly dulled by the human cost of layoffs at Xbox surrounding the news. Can a heavily reduced Xbox division - one without many of the people who made some of these franchises so successful to begin with - rally to create the kinds of experiences Sharma is promising us?

Bethesda Game Studios' next game is confirmed to be The Elder Scrolls 6, which is in full production and Bethesda says is in good shape and is playable, though it remains as vague and theoretical a prospect for now. Meanwhile, the team on Fallout 76 is currently planning another large expansion to go with proper current-gen versions of the enduring online RPG.

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