First officially confirmed to be in the works back in 2018, The Elder Scrolls 6 has been in the pre-production phase of development for several years at this point, but with Starfield’s launch now right around the corner, developer Bethesda Game Studios is gearing up to turn its attention to the development of the open world fantasy RPG. In fact, The Elder Scrolls 6 has finally exited the pre-production phase, and has officially entered early development.
The same was confirmed by Bethesda’s senior VP of global marketing and communications in a recent interview with Vandal. When asked if The Elder Scrolls 6 is still in the concept phase, Hines said, “No. It is in development, but early development.”
Hines also made it explicitly clear that we won’t be hearing much about The Elder Scrolls 6 anytime soon. With Starfield remaining Bethesda Game Studios’ focus for a while, it’s unlikely that we’ll be seeing anything from the studio’s next main project for at least a few years.
“We’ve got all of our studios focused on making [Starfield] the best it can be,” Hines said. “And yes, there are people working on The Elder Scrolls 6, but this is what the studio is focused on. So no, you’re not going to hear about The Elder Scrolls 6 anytime soon. Starfield is our focus for now, and it’s going to remain our priority for a while before we talk about anything else.”
Earlier this year, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said that The Elder Scrolls 6 was still more than five years away from release.
Meanwhile, though Starfield is set to launch imminently, Bethesda Game Studios will continue to work on the sci-fi RPG. The developer has extensive post-launch support planned for the game, which will also include at least one story expansion, titled Shattered Space.
Starfield launches on September 6 for Xbox Series X/S and PC, though Premium and Constellation Edition owners will get access tomorrow, on August 31. You can check out its exact global release timings through here.