It's been confirmed that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will not use The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion's engine, the aging Gamebryo-powered tech that most recently powered Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 3.
Bethesda community manager Nick Breckon busted out this news over the weekend via Twitter, calling Skyrim's engine "all-new" and adding that it "looks fantastic." Rock, Paper, Shotgun followed up with Breckon soon after, asking if this new engine is some sort Gamebryo variant. Breckon replied with, "it's a new graphics/gameplay engine built internally. We'll have more details down the road."
== TEASER ==Breckon's comments appear to shoot down the popular speculation that the next Elder Scrolls game from Bethesda would be using id Tech 5, id Software's newfangled engine it's using for Rage. This rumor started circulating after id was acquired by Bethesda parent company ZeniMax.
Engines aren't always that interesting a topic, but this one in particular has been the backbone of several freakishly buggy and load-screen-heavy games like New Vegas. The move to a new engine is a promising one for a new Elder Scrolls game, which is almost sure to be a lengthy and complex affair. I think most New Vegas (and even Oblivion) fans would agree with me that dealing with "old" Gamebryo for extended periods of time is a bummer because of its issues and age.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was announced via trailer during the 2010 Video Game Awards. If you missed the show, no worries. Said trailer is just below.