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Looking Back on 25 Years of The Elder Scrolls
This year Bethesda celebrates 25 years of The Elder Scrolls, and at PAX East the legendary developer unveiled a tribute video that celebrated the series' impact on its fans and community. The video encompasses the beginning of the series in The Elder Scrolls: Arena to its more recent, sprawling instalments.
The Elder Scrolls: Arena was released for the MS-DOS in 1994, with the first instalment introducing the continent of Tamriel to gamers. 2002's Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind was the Game of the Year and became the launching point for the series to become a mainstream success, appealing to far more players than the previous niche titles had managed. Since then, games like Skyrim have become the gold standard of fantasy RPG titles, and The Elder Scrolls is one of the most important and recognizable names in video games.
The video celebrates The Elder Scrolls' 25th anniversary and features such notable company figures as Pete Hines, Bethesda's Senior Vice President of Global Marketing and Communications, Associate Director of Community Matt Grandstaff, and Senior Designer Kurt Kuhlmann. Beyond the cameos of the people fans have come to associate with the series, though, are also several nods to the community's biggest achievements. Kuhlmann notes in the video that the fanbase has been a consistent bright spot in developing the series, and stated that the company frequently gets letters from people who thank it for its work on The Elder Scrolls and the impact it has on their lives. Here's the video in full:
The video is also full of interesting anecdotes that prove the dedication of the fans who are the spotlight of the presentation. When speaking about the fans, Grandstaff spoke about a specific moment he witnessed at QuakeCon 2011 that stood out to him. Grandstaff saw a woman in labor refusing to leave the convention during the company's Elder Scrolls presentation, adamant that she would witness the future of the series despite having pressing concerns unrelated to the video game industry. The video also showcases Shirley Curry, the Skyrim Grandma whose YouTube channel became a viral sensation thanks to her endearing personality and fresh perspective on the series and all of its gameplay design.
The Elder Scrolls series has become a frequent example of the good that video game communities can generate out of their passion for the title they love. With The Elder Scrolls: Blades set to bring the series to a slew of new players, the 25th anniversary of The Elder Scrolls could be a major one not just for celebrating the past, but for eagerly looking toward the future. While Bethesda has stated that fans should not expect an Elder Scrolls 6 reveal at E3 2019, the prospect of that title will inevitably drive interest in the franchise further as its dedicated community continues to wait for the next epic in Bethesda's long-running, well-loved series.
