The Elder Scrolls 6 is still a long way away, but it’s worth talking about the new features that Bethesda might implement to improve the next game in the franchise. One particular feature that’s worth considering is multiplayer, specifically co-op multiplayer.
The past mainline games in The Elder Scrolls franchise (barring Elder Scrolls Online) have been single-player experiences. However, mods that allow multiplayer gameplay – particularly the Skyrim Together Reborn mod – have been gaining traction in the recent months. If anything, this is proof that adding a multiplayer co-op feature in The Elder Scrolls 6 is a good idea.
Emulating Skyrim Together Reborn
The Skyrim Together Reborn mod was first uploaded in July 2022. On its Nexus Mods page, it’s described as “a passion project, created through the work of a small team of volunteers.” Given its status as a non-official mod, Skyrim Together Reborn is understandably a bit buggy, and a few in-game features had to be removed to allow for a smoother multiplayer experience. Regardless, it’s the most complete and functional Skyrim multiplayer mod to date.
The community clearly loves it. Since the mod was uploaded, Skyrim Together Reborn has garnered just over 600,000 downloads. Additionally, popular Skyrim content creators have shared their thoughts on the mod, praising Skyrim Together Reborn for what it’s achieved and for allowing fans to experience a decade-old game in a whole new way – with friends.
Given this, Bethesda would do well to consider adding a similar feature to The Elder Scrolls 6. After all, Skyrim Together Reborn has pretty much confirmed that there’s a significant part of the community wanting to experience The Elder Scrolls universe through a smaller multiplayer experience. Unlike The Elder Scrolls Online, Skyrim Together Reborn provides a more intimate experience. Through it, a small group of friends can simply fool around in a controlled environment without the usual MMORPG elements.
Implementing Multiplayer Co-op in The Elder Scrolls 6
First and foremost, if The Elder Scrolls 6 were to come with a multiplayer feature, it should be fully optional. This is to ensure that the developer is catering to the fans of Skyrim Together Reborn without taking anything away from players who prefer the true single-player experience. Doing so not only appeals to more players – perhaps even those who were not originally fans of The Elder Scrolls series -- but also improves the title’s replayability.
That said, if Bethesda decides to go along with multiplayer co-op, it needs to iron out a few issues that weren’t covered in Skyrim Together Reborn. For example, waiting and sleeping are fully disabled when the multiplayer mod is active as it could lead to complications in synchronizing the specific game world that the players inhabit. The same goes for synchronization bugs involving character movement and quest progression. Finally, there’s the challenge of ensuring that mods still work for the entire party even with the multiplayer feature.
However, despite all of this, there’s still a big chance that The Elder Scrolls 6 won’t come with built-in co-op. This is because the games in the franchise often center around some sort of chosen one – the most recent example being that the player character in Skyrim is the Last Dragonborn. So, if Bethesda were to implement such a feature, the game would need to justify there being multiple “chosen ones” in the lore. Alternatively, The Elder Scrolls 6 could do away with the chosen one trope altogether.
Lore issues aside, there’s still no denying that optional multiplayer co-op would be an excellent addition to a world as vast and populated as that of The Elder Scrolls titles. If Bethesda doesn’t want to provide the community with the feature, then it seems inevitable that another group of dedicated modders will. It’s only a matter of time.
The Elder Scrolls 6 is currently in development.