When Starfield was released, many people reacted to the fact that the Creation Engine, its game engine, was no longer up to date, with animations and faces in particular feeling somewhat outdated. However, Bethesda has chosen to stick with the game engine, which is also expected to be used in The Elder Scrolls VI, despite the fact that The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered (developed with Unreal Engine 5) showed how much better it could have been.
But perhaps there is hope after all. In the latest episode of The Xbox Two podcast, Windows Central editor Jez Corden reveals that Bethesda is currently receiving help from Microsoft's arguably leading game graphics company, The Coalition and their Advanced Technology Group. The goal is to improve the Creation Engine with several of the features offered in Unreal Engine 5, in order to enhance Bethesda's role-playing games graphically.
We have previously reported on the major Starfield update that is rumored to be premiering next year, but apparently the idea is that this will also enhance The Elder Scrolls VI and Fallout 5. Corden says:
"Starfield is having something of a technical overhaul, and some of those technical overhauls and improvements are also things that are going to shape how the next Fallout plays and how the next Elder Scrolls plays."
Of course, this is just a rumor, but let's keep our fingers crossed. We're all up for better-looking role-playing games, right?