Since the hovering view over Fjord-like territories announced Skyrim’s follow-up at E3 2018, Bethesda has offered almost nothing concrete about The Elder Scrolls VI. No trailer, no confirmed setting, not even a pixel of concept art. For a series whose influence imbues every modern-day RPG, their silence only intensifies the notion this game is forever out of reach.
In the past few months, however, Todd Howard has been progressively opening the curtain, offering tiny glimpses of Bethesda’s internal mindset. And despite talking more about other projects, he’s given something resembling clarity for The Elder Scrolls VI’s expectant fans.
In a recent interview with GQ Magazine, he confirmed the game is “still a long way off” but simultaneously revealed that Bethesda recently conducted a big play test. It’s the most substantial update in years – enough to confirm the project is still alive, but not enough to suggest it’s even close to being shown publicly.
Todd likely doesn’t mean to be contradictory. His words define TES6’s story so far – hopeful, yet cautious. One thing is clear: he’s telling fans not to expect too much. Bethesda’s personnel, he confirms, is working on Fallout – specifically 76’s Burning Springs expansion – plus “some other things”, likely meaning Starfield’s 2026 content drop, although there’re remake rumours which refuse to die too. It’s nebulous, but The Elder Scrolls VI, at least, he describes as “the everyday thing”.
So, despite numerous projects in the pipeline, he implies TES6 is the studio’s main resource focus – and it’s far enough along in the process to be playable internally. Yet, even though Bethesda has teams working on it everyday, why does The Elder Scrolls VI still feel so distant?
Starfield is an undeniable factor. The Elder Scrolls VI was in pre-production in 2022 while the studio’s full attention was consumed by Starfield. Todd himself describes the internal ethos throughout Starfield’s development as a “creative reset” for the whole team. They needed distance from their other endeavours to make Starfield the most engaging space-faring adventure they were capable of.
After Starfield launched in 2023, full production began on TES6. If we take Todd’s position that games of this scale take at least five years to complete – the seven years Fallout 4 took notwithstanding – then 2028 is, logically, the earliest possible release year. See, sometimes the simplest answer is the correct one – we aren’t yet playing The Elder Scrolls VI because there just hasn’t been enough time for Bethesda to finish making it.
Yet, development time isn’t the only obstacle standing between fans and the next Elder Scrolls. As Todd suggested to GQ, Bethesda’s plate is full: Fallout occupies hundreds of staff as 76 continues growing; Starfield’s aforesaid second expansion is coming next year; and the rumoured Fallout 3 Remaster is believed in some circles to already be in development, a 2023 leaked Microsoft document putting fuel on that particular fire. The studio’s workload, its manpower spread, must oftentime run thin. The now released Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition, for all its mixed reception, wasn’t a light undertaking; a new questline and cyberdog companion, plus menu and UI overhauls would have diverted some of Bethesda’s attention away from TES6. To suggest the same 100% focus they plied onto Starfield can be replicated on the next Elder Scrolls is, to put it lightly, fanciful.
Throw in the interpretation that Todd seems more personally energised by Starfield and Fallout than The Elder Scrolls right now, too. He may be tempering his excitement until TES6 is ready to unveil, but while his pride in Starfield’s progress and his eagerness to push Fallout to new directions might seem trivial, they raise a question many fans won’t want to consider: Could Fallout 5 leapfrog The Elder Scrolls VI?
With the second series of its universally-acclaimed TV series streaming in December, Fallout is finding itself back in the cultural spotlight. In recent interviews, Todd has spoken passionately about visiting the set, and ensuring key story points remain out of the show for Fallout 5’s benefit. To be clear, Bethesda haven’t said anything official of Fallout 5 coming before The Elder Scrolls VI, but assuming the rip-roaring success of a follow-up to one of the most-watched TV series’ of all time is a shoo-in, it wouldn’t be too wild from a business perspective to swap the two titles’ release windows.
Rest assured, this is all conjecture. Discussing them here is just food for thought. Yet, they don’t explain the strangest part of TES6’s saga: why it was announced so early in the first place.
The early reveal, in short, has backfired. As a studio renowned for keeping cards close to their chest, it makes sense that Bethesda hasn’t shared any artwork or gameplay so far, but their silence has without doubt fuelled unease. To explain, Todd is on record saying the decision to announce the next Elder Scrolls was taken to appease fan demand – that they were coming “with pitchforks”. In hindsight, announcing such an anticipated sequel could only ever be a short-term solution. Fans might’ve been appeased, but not for long; the more silence rolls on, the greater disdain emerges.
There is also the theory that TES6’s announcement was made to placate shareholders whose bottom line was sustaining the pressure of a studio navigating its post-Skyrim era. More cynically, it was a marketing tactic to bolster the company’s value in the run-up to parent company ZeniMax Media’s acquisition by Microsoft. Theories aside, responding to fan demand seems most likely. Either way, Todd expresses regret in the early reveal. Possibly, he sees what the fans see: the lack of information in the years since has created an inescapable void.
With no idea of tone or narrative confirmed, no screenshots, characters, or concepts, only job listings and rumours, the vacuum can sometimes feel unbearable. This lack of something meaningful mirrors Bethesda’s usual marketing cycle: short timeframes between announcement and release like the four-month period between Fallout 4’s E3 2015 reveal and launch, or shadow-dropping entirely like last April’s Oblivion remaster. If Bethesda followed the same blueprint, we’d only expect to see a glimpse of TES6 in action around half a year before it eventually comes out. As it is, the current blackout is frustrating, but it needs to be understood in terms of Bethesda’s usual philosophy.
So, leading back to the original question of when, we can only speculate but 2028 seems the earliest feasible year we’ll be able to get our hands on the next Elder Scrolls. That’s assuming all Bethesda’s other diversions don’t delay the game’s development. If not, depending on the time of year, we might get our first look of the game in action in 2027. Yet, given the projects Bethesda has running in tandem, 2029 or – gasp – 2030 also seems realistic.
Edging beyond 2028 also brings into question the launch platform – are we looking at The Elder Scrolls VI landing on next-gen hardware? Will navigating more advanced architecture affect the game’s development timeline? Time will only tell – it’s as vague an answer as some of Todd’s interview responses but there is one thing we can say clearly: TES6 isn’t running late, it was announced too early.
As Todd confirms with GQ, Bethesda are working on the title every day, but given their parallel commitments it’s almost guaranteed to be a slow burn. This is the cold, hard truth: you’re not waiting for The Elder Scrolls VI for any other reason than it simply isn’t finished.
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