Porting the classic TES games to other systems.

[Bauglir100]

It's been two decades, and Bethesda hasn't even attempted to port TES I: Arena, TES II: Daggerfall, Battlespire, or Redguard to a console. How come? I know that Arena and Daggerfall had larger game worlds than Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, etc., but most of that was randomly-generated or otherwise simplistic. I'm sure that you could fit any of those four games on a 3DS card, or all 4 on an Xbox 360 disc. Even the Game Boy Advance was able to run Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Doom II, so it's not like a first-person RPG made in '94 would be impossible on a more advanced handheld system made in the 2010s. The most they'd have to do is trim some of that empty space between cities and maybe axe most of the locations irrelevant to the main quest (which were randomly-generated anyway, so it wouldn't have been that big a sacrifice).

Heck, I admit I've never played Redguard (not too surprising, really), but I'm sure that Bethesda could've even ported it to the Nintendo 64, PSX, or Sega Saturn/Dreamcast if they wanted to.

[legoless]

There's no market for ancient DOS games on console. If there was profit in it, they wouldn't have released Arena and Daggerfall for free. Redguard could not have been ported to any of those consoles you mentioned, but its cancelled sequels were actually planned to be released on PlayStation 2 rather than DOS. Bethesda has neglected Sony since Morrowind though.

[Bauglir100]

There's no market for ancient DOS games on console.

Not if they just released them all on compilation cartridges/discs built to run on newer systems. Really, how many people nowadays have working DOS computers, or the means to run EMULATORS of them on their computers without having to buy/download a whole bunch of software/hardware?

Wouldn't you want the games that started it all to be released to a wider demographic instead of brushing them to the side like Sega did to Alex Kidd or to have to slog through the Internet just to find something capable of RUNNING the games on THEIR computers, let alone buying/downloading them? If they wanted to make them freeware, couldn't they have at least updated them so that they can run on modern computers without DOSbox or whatever?

If Doom can be on Xbox Live, I don't see why Arena and Daggerfall couldn't get a compilation release on there, the PlayStation Network, or the Wii/Wii U/3DS Virtual Console.

[legoless]

There's no market for ancient DOS games on console.

Really, how many people nowadays have working DOS computers, or the means to run EMULATORS of them on their computers without having to buy/download a whole bunch of software/hardware?

I think you've overestimated the amount of effort involved. DOSBox is a free open source emulator and allows Arena and Daggerfall to be played very easily, while recently both Battlespire and Redguard have been made available for purchase in a playable state for modern Windows.

What you seem to have underestimated is the amount of effort required to emulate those games on other systems while also overhauling the control schemes. That would be a huge project, and would likely be impossible without a completely new game engine (something like XL Engine, which has taken years to develop). It simply isn't a feasible investment to make: the casual console audience would have zero interest, and the hardcore fans, retro aficionados and nostalgia trippers are all already playing them on PC.

If anything, ZeniMax should try to offer working versions of the mobile games next. It seems BGS wants to bury everything but Shadowkey though, so the likelihood of any of the Java applets ever seeing the light of day seems low.

[AKB]

I completely agree with Legoless. This would be a huge cost of effort to Bethesda for literally no possible profit. Arena and Daggerfall are extremely clunky, keyboard heavy games. Which is fine, I love that about them, but it makes it a bit hard to go from dozens of buttons to around just a dozen. Battlespire and Redguard are also special snowflakes, and would be a pain to port.

As for the games on PC, it's insanely easy to get Arena and Daggerfall running. People have created pre-installed emulators for them a while ago, it's easy to just pick up and get them working. Battlespire and Redguard were just offered some degree of support again, which I'm happy about since it's exactly what I was hoping they would do.

Doom is a pretty bad example for comparison. It has a pretty simple set of controls, and it was insanely popular. As in, more popular than Windows when they were both coming out kind of popular. A huge portion of people are familiar with Doom. Fewer people were familiar with the early ES games, and as such people would be less willing to pick them up and try them. There would be some attraction to them, based on the current popularity of the series, but that's a slim market. You're targeting the people who want to play the older games, but aren't willing to play them on PC, where they are currently available.

So this doesn't make sense from a financial standpoint, and it doesn't make sense for Bethesda to throw the heavy amounts of labor to port these games to the consoles.

[AeraDunmerMoon]

Personally, I understand why it makes no sense for them to port, but it makes me sad that they don't. Emulators and my computer do not have good history Y.Y DOSbox chugs on my laptop...

[Bauglir100]

There's no market for ancient DOS games on console.

Really, how many people nowadays have working DOS computers, or the means to run EMULATORS of them on their computers without having to buy/download a whole bunch of software/hardware?

I think you've overestimated the amount of effort involved. DOSBox is a free open source emulator and allows Arena and Daggerfall to be played very easily, while recently both Battlespire and Redguard have been made available for purchase in a playable state for modern Windows.

What you seem to have underestimated is the amount of effort required to emulate those games on other systems while also overhauling the control schemes. That would be a huge project, and would likely be impossible without a completely new game engine (something like XL Engine, which has taken years to develop). It simply isn't a feasible investment to make: the casual console audience would have zero interest, and the hardcore fans, retro aficionados and nostalgia trippers are all already playing them on PC.

If anything, ZeniMax should try to offer working versions of the mobile games next. It seems BGS wants to bury everything but Shadowkey though, so the likelihood of any of the Java applets ever seeing the light of day seems low.

Yes, but will DOSBox, PLUS Arena and Daggerfall work on Mac OS X 10.4 (which is what I use most often)? And this is a serious question, btw.

Besides, I think you're underestimating the appeal of console ports. They're usually nowhere near as good as the PC versions, but that just makes you want to go out and play the originals even more. I got the PC GOTY version of Oblivion because I liked the Xbox 360 vanilla version so much and wanted to start using console commands and the Construction Set. Does that mean I like the 360 version any less? No! I still like both versions on their own merits, and find it impressive they able to translate the base game so faithfully to consoles.

And I'd think somewhere along the line, someone with an Xbox or Xbox 360 would be looking at "The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind" and think "Hmm...I wonder what the first two games were like. Maybe I should check them out, in case I don't get the story of Morrowind." So wouldn't it be more convenient if they could just go on Xbox Live or whatever and just download the two predecessors from there or a compilation disc ala Final Fantasy Anthology on PS1 instead of going to a dozen stores for a game in an obsolete format? And that's assuming they DON'T know about DOSbox or such software, DON'T know those games are freeware, and/or DON'T have computers that can actually RUN those games properly.

[AKB]

DOSBox works with Mac OS X. Here's a link to a further instructions on how to get pre-configured installers. It'll be harder to run it on Mac OS X, since it's not a very popular OS, so you'll have less help getting it set up, but there are guides available on this site.

Have you ever played Arena or Daggerfall? They are extremely keyboard heavy games, Arena barely supports mouses even! They are some of the oldest game around, and they show their age very clearly. Also, you definitely do not need to play Arena or Daggerfall to understand the story going forward. If anything, it'd confuse you more.

And you cannot find Arena or Daggerfall in almost anything but specialty stores or online. If you manage to learn about Arena and Daggerfall enough that you want to pay the hundred dollars premium for an original copy, but not enough to learn they're free, then you're just an anomaly. The person who is aware of Arena and Daggerfall but not DOSbox, the fact that the games were released freely, and who wouldn't have the computer to run it but could track down a physical copy does not exist.

If a developer throws up their hands and says "You can have this game for free, as is", they're done with the game. They've already shot themselves in the foot extremely badly if they were to ever try to sell them, ever again. They would be putting money towards porting an extremely old game, that was definitely not designed to run on anything but a computer, to an audience that is very tiny, who could still get it for free anyway instead of paying to get it on a platform that it was never designed for.

[Imbalance]

So, you're telling me there's a chance?

[Bauglir100]

DOSBox works with Mac OS X. Here's a link to a further instructions on how to get pre-configured installers. It'll be harder to run it on Mac OS X, since it's not a very popular OS, so you'll have less help getting it set up, but there are guides available on this site.

Have you ever played Arena or Daggerfall? They are extremely keyboard heavy games, Arena barely supports mouses even! They are some of the oldest game around, and they show their age very clearly. Also, you definitely do not need to play Arena or Daggerfall to understand the story going forward. If anything, it'd confuse you more.

And you cannot find Arena or Daggerfall in almost anything but specialty stores or online. If you manage to learn about Arena and Daggerfall enough that you want to pay the hundred dollars premium for an original copy, but not enough to learn they're free, then you're just an anomaly. The person who is aware of Arena and Daggerfall but not DOSbox, the fact that the games were released freely, and who wouldn't have the computer to run it but could track down a physical copy does not exist.

If a developer throws up their hands and says "You can have this game for free, as is", they're done with the game. They've already shot themselves in the foot extremely badly if they were to ever try to sell them, ever again. They would be putting money towards porting an extremely old game, that was definitely not designed to run on anything but a computer, to an audience that is very tiny, who could still get it for free anyway instead of paying to get it on a platform that it was never designed for.

Interesting points, indeed. But still, I'm sure they could at least remake them in some way. I understand Bethesda once planned on releasing a TES Travels version of Oblivion for the PSP at some point. Sure, it was going to be heavily condensed/distilled compared to the PC/360/PS3 versions, but it showed possibilities that Bethesda could've easily explored, such as making a version of Arena/Daggerfall/Battlespire/Redguard that was compressed/simplified to fit on a handheld system. Even if the former two just consisted of the main quest's dungeons as traditional "levels" and maybe a single town with the surrounding countryside for a "hub" level.

I could picture it: The hub level for a Travels version of Arena could be the Imperial City (since you break out of the Imperial City dungeons at the beginning of the game) and parts of Cyrodiil, with the various dungeons or other cities related to the Main Quest being "levels" that could be accessed in any order, while a Travels version of Daggerfall would (obviously) have the city of Daggerfall as a hub level, with the other locations again being stages/levels that could be selected in any order desired.

I know, this sounds like a pretty weak translation of games as large as Arena/Daggerfall, but most of the content in those games was randomly-generated to begin with, so you could make a distilled version of those games, and people would scarcely lose sleep over it, especially if they just wanna pick up and play them.

And I'm sure they could also just condense the configuration of the controls down to a handful of buttons (depending on the console/system). Even if it meant, say, having to toggle between weapons, tools, scrolls, spells, etc. to use on one or two buttons or merging the pause/menu/wait buttons together.

If Nintendo could put Ocarina of Time on the 3DS and still make it just as awesome as it was on the N64, I'm sure Bethesda could make a modest "Travels" variation of one of their "classic" titles (if not Arena/Daggerfall, then at least Battlespire/Redguard) for the PSP, Vita, 3DS, etc.

[legoless]

But still, I'm sure they could at least remake them in some way. I understand Bethesda once planned on releasing a TES Travels version of Oblivion for the PSP at some point. Sure, it was going to be heavily condensed/distilled compared to the PC/360/PS3 versions, but it showed possibilities that Bethesda could've easily explored, such as making a version of Arena/Daggerfall/Battlespire/Redguard that was compressed/simplified to fit on a handheld system. Even if the former two just consisted of the main quest's dungeons as traditional "levels" and maybe a single town with the surrounding countryside for a "hub" level.

That isn't a port though, that's a remake. Oblivion on PSP was an entirely different game, and (from what little we saw) it used none of the assets of the original game. Also, it was *cancelled* - that fact should speak for itself. Also, Bethesda Game Studios was not involved in any of the TES Travels games. They were all developed by a separate stuido called Vir2L, which is now defunct. None of the Travels games did well, even with the Oblivion hype behind the development of of Oblivion Mobile. Oblivion hype is what drove the development of the game's PS3 port and even ESO, so it's not something to underestimate.

Who would possibly be interested in condensed remakes of games from the 90s? Creating entirely new games is even more infeasible than porting old ones, especially since BGS has a pretty big legacy to protect after the success of the modern TES and Fallout games. Nobody in their right mind would try marketing a remake of unsuccessful games and risk jeopardising the TES IP. Just look at how much rage the announcement of the Legends card game is getting. The stories of the four DOS games aren't even that interesting.

I'll concede that Redguard would make for an okay console remake, if its combat didn't suck. But where's the hype? No one knows who Cyrus is.

If Nintendo could put Ocarina of Time on the 3DS and still make it just as awesome as it was on the N64, I'm sure Bethesda could make a modest "Travels" variation of one of their "classic" titles (if not Arena/Daggerfall, then at least Battlespire/Redguard) for the PSP, Vita, 3DS, etc.

Yeah, except Ocarina of Time was a console game and has much more charm than any of the old TES games. It was a true 3D environment rather than a weird 2D/3D hybrid as well.

[IcarusBen]

Now, if someone were to, say, port Morrowind to the New 3DS, I'd be up for that. It's technically capable enough, I think.

[Bauglir100]

But still, I'm sure they could at least remake them in some way. I understand Bethesda once planned on releasing a TES Travels version of Oblivion for the PSP at some point. Sure, it was going to be heavily condensed/distilled compared to the PC/360/PS3 versions, but it showed possibilities that Bethesda could've easily explored, such as making a version of Arena/Daggerfall/Battlespire/Redguard that was compressed/simplified to fit on a handheld system. Even if the former two just consisted of the main quest's dungeons as traditional "levels" and maybe a single town with the surrounding countryside for a "hub" level.

That isn't a port though, that's a remake. Oblivion on PSP was an entirely different game, and (from what little we saw) it used none of the assets of the original game. Also, it was *cancelled* - that fact should speak for itself. Also, Bethesda Game Studios was not involved in any of the TES Travels games. They were all developed by a separate stuido called Vir2L, which is now defunct. None of the Travels games did well, even with the Oblivion hype behind the development of of Oblivion Mobile. Oblivion hype is what drove the development of the game's PS3 port and even ESO, so it's not something to underestimate.

Who would possibly be interested in condensed remakes of games from the 90s? Creating entirely new games is even more infeasible than porting old ones, especially since BGS has a pretty big legacy to protect after the success of the modern TES and Fallout games. Nobody in their right mind would try marketing a remake of unsuccessful games and risk jeopardising the TES IP. Just look at how much rage the announcement of the Legends card game is getting. The stories of the four DOS games aren't even that interesting.

I'll concede that Redguard would make for an okay console remake, if its combat didn't suck. But where's the hype? No one knows who Cyrus is.

If Nintendo could put Ocarina of Time on the 3DS and still make it just as awesome as it was on the N64, I'm sure Bethesda could make a modest "Travels" variation of one of their "classic" titles (if not Arena/Daggerfall, then at least Battlespire/Redguard) for the PSP, Vita, 3DS, etc.

Yeah, except Ocarina of Time was a console game and has much more charm than any of the old TES games. It was a true 3D environment rather than a weird 2D/3D hybrid as well.

Christ, give the idea a CHANCE. Arena and Daggerfall may not have been super popular compared to Morrowind or the other major titles, but the fact that they sold enough copies to warrant a third game in the main series and became cult classics through word of mouth ALONE should say that there was some appeal to them. Sure, they may not have aged well compared to other games of the time, but I'm sure that if they went back and tweaked a few things here and there (like getting rid of those errors/glitches that apparently are all over the place in Daggerfall), then people would be out buying them in droves, at least for curiosity's sake.

[Pilaf The Defiler]

What would the point be? The cheapest PC you buy at Wal-Mart can play the completely free versions of Arena and Daggerfall at Bethesda's website, not to mention you get both for free at GOG when you buy Morrowind, Redguard or Battlespire. These kinds of early-90's cRPGs were never intended to be played on consoles. They weren't developed with that in mind. Their controls would not be easily adapted at all. People would be better off just playing them as they already are.

[Starfang]

There's no market for ancient DOS games on console. If there was profit in it, they wouldn't have released Arena and Daggerfall for free. Redguard could not have been ported to any of those consoles you mentioned, but its cancelled sequels were actually planned to be released on PlayStation 2 rather than DOS. Bethesda has neglected Sony since Morrowind though.

There may be a market for some "beefed" up editions of Arena and Daggerfall with slightly better graphics and obviously controller interface.

[Bauglir100]

There's no market for ancient DOS games on console. If there was profit in it, they wouldn't have released Arena and Daggerfall for free. Redguard could not have been ported to any of those consoles you mentioned, but its cancelled sequels were actually planned to be released on PlayStation 2 rather than DOS. Bethesda has neglected Sony since Morrowind though.

There may be a market for some "beefed" up editions of Arena and Daggerfall with slightly better graphics and obviously controller interface.

Not to mention an improved combat system. The combat in Arena and Daggerfall has you move the mouse around the screen while right-clicking. Which can be pretty clumsy, especially if you had a laptop with no mouse (thankfully, I DO have a mouse for my laptop). If it didn't need to utilize so many buttons, those games would actually fit pretty well on the Wii. Perhaps if they did what the later games did, and just turned "Camp", "Inventory", etc. into sub-menus that could be accessed by simply pressing the start button.

Or perhaps the 3DS could benefit from that kind of control, since it has way more buttons than your typical Wiimote, and would have something for the touchscreen to utilize.

[The SheoDovah]

Bethesda doesn't like to revisit past works apart from researching for their next game and porting them to over platforms would be a waste of their resources. The sheer amount of work they would need to do in order to get it onto IOS without relying on an IOS version of Dosbox could take up more time then it is worth. They would also have to get them rebranded, add achievements on the consoles etc.. It would not be worth their time and as others said, Arena and Daggerfall are free. They would also have to submit a lot of patches due to Daggerfall having the common nickname of Buggerfall. They would need to look at the specs of the consoles and consider if it would cause any issues. Morrowind, I think has been rereleased on 360 via it's store but that's about it for Bethesda and TES consoles/other platforms.

They just prefer to focus on the future. They did plan to do a spin off series on the PSP and maybe, if that had been successful, we could be looking at an episodic series of Travels which would suit TES. Sadly, Travels is dead due to a mixture of poor marketing, failure to meet a target and generally being TES lite. It was also before TES become a hit with the mainstream due to Skyrim introducing the franchise to the masses.

I rather see them working on TES VI then port classic and the older games to other systems. The only porting they have done recently is TESO and that's just because the current consoles can handle the MMO. Had it been released during the PS3 and 360's prime, chances are they would have looked at the specs and just tell Zenimax or Zenimax wouldn't have done it on the consoles.

[legoless]

They just prefer to focus on the future. They did plan to do a spin off series on the PSP and maybe, if that had been successful, we could be looking at an episodic series of Travels which would suit TES. Sadly, Travels is dead due to a mixture of poor marketing, failure to meet a target and generally being TES lite. It was also before TES become a hit with the mainstream due to Skyrim introducing the franchise to the masses.

The PSP game was actually developed by a third party as well.

[Bauglir100]

Bethesda doesn't like to revisit past works apart from researching for their next game and porting them to over platforms would be a waste of their resources. The sheer amount of work they would need to do in order to get it onto IOS without relying on an IOS version of Dosbox could take up more time then it is worth. They would also have to get them rebranded, add achievements on the consoles etc.. It would not be worth their time and as others said, Arena and Daggerfall are free. They would also have to submit a lot of patches due to Daggerfall having the common nickname of Buggerfall. They would need to look at the specs of the consoles and consider if it would cause any issues. Morrowind, I think has been rereleased on 360 via it's store but that's about it for Bethesda and TES consoles/other platforms.

They just prefer to focus on the future. They did plan to do a spin off series on the PSP and maybe, if that had been successful, we could be looking at an episodic series of Travels which would suit TES. Sadly, Travels is dead due to a mixture of poor marketing, failure to meet a target and generally being TES lite. It was also before TES become a hit with the mainstream due to Skyrim introducing the franchise to the masses.

I rather see them working on TES VI then port classic and the older games to other systems. The only porting they have done recently is TESO and that's just because the current consoles can handle the MMO. Had it been released during the PS3 and 360's prime, chances are they would have looked at the specs and just tell Zenimax or Zenimax wouldn't have done it on the consoles.

Well, maybe Daggerfall may not be so easy to translate to a handheld system what with its many design flaws and errors/glitches (and they'd have to do QUITE a bit of censoring, what with the prominent nudity and other things that game was known for), but Arena could work just fine on the Nintendo 3DS. They could even add some new features (like being able to mark the randomly-generated towns, dungeons, etc. with labels so that you can remember where they are the next time you explore the countryside, seeing as you could do that with regular town maps).

I certainly would wanna see Bethesda make TES VI more than anything once Fallout 4's been released, but you gotta admit that it'd be cool to be able to play TES I: Arena on-the-go without having to lug around a bulky laptop. And it should be on a 3DS and NOT some tablet or smartphone, since that honestly seems more complicated and devoted handheld gaming systems would be a more practical option. If Bethesda were to release a port of Arena on the 3DS, I swear that I'd GET a 3DS just so that I could play Arena on it.

It's not even that Bethesda's forgotten about the old games, considering they recently re-released Arena AND Daggerfall in a compilation pack with Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim. The Elder Scrolls Anthology, anyone?

[The SheoDovah]

Again, it would be a waste of time to port over a 20 year old game that is free and well, there is no market for TES on a handheld platform. From their point of view, TES needs to be on a console or PC due to the specs and it would be very hard to put TES on a 3DS without having to sacrifice a lot of features due to it's hardware limitations. I see nothing wrong with using a laptop and most are not that bulky nowadays. TES VI will happen as Bethesda is not involved with Online regarding development and support thus the franchise won't have the same fate as the Warcraft franchise.

It's not really a re-release for arena and daggerfall due to those games being available before the Anthology. They just chucked them in and I think, it's just the digital copies of those games.

[Starfang]

The only way it would generate enough interest and revenue from such a project were if it a complete overhaul in engine, graphics, mechanics...basically a complete makeover, VI would be out before a remake of Arena or Daggerfall though.

[Pilaf The Defiler]

It would be very interesting to see the stories from Arena or Daggerfall redone in a modern engine, to be sure. I'd pay good money for that.

[Starfang]

Christ, give the idea a CHANCE. Arena and Daggerfall may not have been super popular compared to Morrowind or the other major titles, but the fact that they sold enough copies to warrant a third game in the main series and became cult classics through word of mouth ALONE should say that there was some appeal to them. Sure, they may not have aged well compared to other games of the time, but I'm sure that if they went back and tweaked a few things here and there (like getting rid of those errors/glitches that apparently are all over the place in Daggerfall), then people would be out buying them in droves, at least for curiosity's sake.

Sure we could give the idea hundreds of chances but that doesn't mean the end result would be cost-effective or even feasible. I don't think you understand the cost of developing these games, in fact I'm pretty willing to bet that if Bethesda used up even half of their budget for VI and remade Arena and/or Daggerfall we wouldn't get TES-6 for close to another half a decade because the project would have eaten up that much time + resources and because they'd want to make money from it they'd be going for a complete remake from scratch (sort of like the FFVII remake), all new system, controls, etc.

So therefore there would be no room in the foreseeable future for a TES VI until that money and production time was caught up, and like others have said we (most of us at least) would rather have the franchise go forward rather than see it waste time, money & resources rehashing defunct now "free to play" titles.

EDIT: I also wanted to bring up an important point that didn't get touched upon, which is that the demographic as well as the PC market was wildly different in 1994/1996 compared to now, even longtime fans of the franchise who started out playing Arena have said that they prefer elements from Morrowind and Skyrim. I think if Bethesda tried rebranding TES I & II it wouldn't be nearly as successful as some people believe just because the pc-gamer demographic as well as the gaming market as a whole has changed so much since the 90's, it'd be like Infocom coming back from the dead and trying to sell Zork I-III (which are all free to play) for $50 a pop and expecting a huge turnover in profits whereas in reality they would probably be better off making it a "free" Facebook game with pay to play and pay to win features.

[MetaCthulhu]

Sure we could give the idea hundreds of chances but that doesn't mean the end result would be cost-effective or even feasible. I don't think you understand the cost of developing these games, in fact I'm pretty willing to bet that if Bethesda used up even half of their budget for VI and remade Arena and/or Daggerfall we wouldn't get TES-6 for close to another half a decade because the project would have eaten up that much time + resources and because they'd want to make money from it they'd be going for a complete remake from scratch (sort of like the FFVII remake), all new system, controls, etc.

Why would they need to do any of that though? Why not just give a third party (somebody like Obsidian, for example) all the data files from Fallout 3, Skyrim, and Oblivion, (textures, meshes; the whole bit) and just say: "Here's the story, here's the Nifs, here's the CS; make it work."

Sure it would be an outdated update, but it would play like a "Game of The Year" and there would be basically no development.

[Starfang]

Why would they need to do any of that though? Why not just give a third party (somebody like Obsidian, for example) all the data files from Fallout 3, Skyrim, and Oblivion, (textures, meshes; the whole bit) and just say: "Here's the story, here's the Nifs, here's the CS; make it work."

Sure it would be an outdated update, but it would play like a "Game of The Year" and there would be basically no development.

Might be a tad more complex than that, maybe Bethseda would want more creative control over their past stories and feel that micromanaging a third-party while trying to develop a new TES iteration would be too vexing. Or they could simply feel that the story has been told and there is no need to rehash it, with both games being free to play now I doubt they would have any plans to pay a third-party to revamp an aged game mechanic into something like Morrowind 2.0 or Skyrim 2 (because if they want sales that's pretty much what they will have to do).