The Elder Scrolls 6 Is Still 2+ Years Away, But It’s “Coming Along Well,” Says Xbox
Xbox says The Elder Scrolls 6 is "coming along well," but reports suggest Bethesda’s long-awaited RPG is still at least two years away from release.
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The Elder Scrolls 6 is still a long way off, but Xbox says development is moving in the right direction.
According to Bloomberg's Jason Schrier, as reported by IGN, the long-awaited follow-up to genre-defining RPG The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is still at least two years away from release. That would put its release in late 2028 at the very earliest, which could mean it's being planned as an Xbox Helix launch title.
It was originally announced all the way back at E3 2018 during Bethesda's live press conference. The entirety of the announcement was just the teaser trailer embedded above.
There has been more time between when The Elder Scrolls VI was announced in 2018 and right now in 2026 than there was between when Skyrim was released in 2011 and TES VI was announced. Read that again.
A Redguard NPC from TES V Skyrim
This all comes on the heels of the ongoing Xbox reset enacted by new CEO Asha Sharma. The tech and gaming giant is in the process of laying off thousands of workers, divesting or closing studios, raising prices, and shifting resources to re-focus on big, legacy franchises such as Elder Scrolls and Fallout. Even legendary studios like id aren't safe.
Bethesda chief Todd Howard would prefer you just pretend it was never announced, that's how long it has been. But according to Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty, the game is still coming along nicely, at least. That's a sentiment that was echoed late last year.
"I would say one of the more challenging balancing acts of someone in a job like mine is balancing that you want to go show the world all the cool stuff you’re working on, and you want to get them excited early, but we also know that we want to wait till the right moment. And when you decide to show it, you want it to be the best you’ve got. And also that when you show the game, you’re also giving them a promise of, hey, it’s coming soon. So I can tell you, having visited Bethesda and sat with Todd and seen Elder Scrolls playing, it looks amazing, and it’s coming along well. And we’ll make sure to announce it and really reveal it at the right time."
- Xbox Chief Content Officer, Matt Booty, in a Variety interview
Todd Howard also recently said that The Elder Scrolls 6 would return to a more classic Bethesda style, compared to the creative detours of games like Fallout 76 and Starfield. It remains to be seen what that means exactly.
No one knows for sure where The Elder Scrolls 6 will be located in Tamriel, but comments and leaks point to Hammerfell, the home of the Redguards. You can visit some locations in Hammerfell in TES I Arena and TES II Daggerfall, but those games are procedurally generated. There is a standalone Redguard spin-off game as well, but if you really want to explore regions of Hammerfell right now, then your best bet is The Elder Scrolls Online MMO.
There's also speculation that naval exploration and ship combat could play a large role, presumably as an iteration on Starfield's spaceship systems. Bethesda typically builds upon its past features in future games, so we should expect base-building and customization features from Skyrim, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, and Starfield to also make a return.
If The Elder Scrolls 6 does release all the way in late 2028, that would mean it will have been over an entire decade since its initial reveal.
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