Bethesda Boss Todd Howard Won’t Rule Out an Elder Scrolls TV Show, but Says Fallout Was ‘More Uniquely Suited’ for an Adaptation

After the huge success of the Amazon Fallout TV show, some have wondered whether The Elder Scrolls, Bethesda’s fantasy video game franchise, might be next in line for an adaptation. But what does Bethesda boss Todd Howard think?

In an interview with Eurogamer ahead of the launch of Fallout Season 2, Howard refused to rule out the possibility of an Elder Scrolls TV show, but did suggest the post-apocalyptic sci-fi franchise Fallout was better suited to an adaptation.

“I will say this, the Fallout journey was like a 10 year one,” Howard replied to the suggestion of an Elder Scrolls adaptation. “After Fallout 3, people were asking to do a movie or show for Fallout, and we really took our time.”

Howard “can’t rule in or rule out an Elder Scrolls thing in the future,” Eurogamer said, but he also believes the Fallout franchise was “more uniquely suited” and had “more to say in its genre.”

Howard continued: “But, you never know. I think the impact of the show on Fallout as a franchise has been bigger than I expected, so it does make you think like, ‘Hey, is there a path?’ But, nothing today… [and] I’m willing to say ‘no’ for a decade.”

The Fallout series is wide-ranging in tone and content. Indeed, Season 2 star Macaulay Culkin touched on this in a recent interview with IGN, explaining why he’s so big into the Fallout lore.

“You could have zombies in it, you have deathclaws, you have monsters and things like that,” he said. “I mean, gosh, you have aliens. You name it, you can throw it at the wall. Even Fallout 76, I mean, the Mothman is now fair game. It is that kind of stuff. There’s no really shape to it. You can kind of stick any kind of shape piece into that hole.”

And in any case, there’s no sign of Fallout slowing down when it comes to the TV series. Season 3 is already confirmed, and its stars have indicated they’d be willing to continue playing their characters for many more series beyond that. In May, Aaron Moten, who plays Brotherhood of Steel hopeful Maximus, said the Fallout series’ “endpoint” runs until Season 5 or Season 6.

“When I signed on to do the series, we would have a starting point and they gave me the endpoint,” Moten said. “And that endpoint hasn’t changed. But it is Season 5, 6 type of endpoint.

“We’ve always known that we were gonna take our time with the development of the characters.”

Perhaps when that is done and dusted, Bethesda might turn its attention to an Elder Scrolls adaptation. Will The Elder Scrolls 6 be out by then? One can only hope.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.