Bethesda sent out a message to Elder Scrolls fans for the franchise’s 30th anniversary, and that included a long-awaited update on The Elder Scrolls 6.
2024 marks the 30th anniversary of the Elder Scrolls franchise. It also marks the 13th year since Skyrim launched, highlighting how long it has been since the last mainline The Elder Scrolls game. This long slumber for the series is said to have been self-imposed by Bethesda by a former Fallout: New Vegas developer. While The Elder Scrolls Online still gets regular updates and tides fans over, people still want that single-player adventure experience.
The first hints of The Elder Scrolls 6 came during E3 2018 when Todd Howard gave fans a short teaser trailer. The trailer didn’t reveal much other than the fact that the game exists, with Howard confirming the game was in pre-production. Starfield took up most of Bethesda’s resources over the next few years, but now that it’s out, all hands are on deck for The Elder Scrolls 6.
Bethesda confirms that The Elder Scrolls 6 isn’t canceled, has early builds
Bethesda confirmed that Elder Scrolls 6 is in active development and has early builds.
In a message to fans, Bethesda reflected on the history of the Elder Scrolls franchise back to Arena. The studio focused on how each entry gave the franchise an innovation that stuck with future games, such as Morrowind’s modding support. It also joked about how Skyrim is playable on “everything.”
The message moved on and praised other projects like The Elder Scrolls Online and The Elder Scrolls Castles, but conspicuously said nothing about The Elder Scrolls: Blades. Ultimately, the tease many fans wanted came at the tail-end of the message and confirmed that The Elder Scrolls 6 was still in active development. Notably, it has playable early builds, meaning it has likely left pre-production.
In previous interviews, Howard states they made the music first and then built maps around the tone of the music. With early builds confirmed, there could already be a solid, playable vision of what The Elder Scrolls 6 will be, even if Bethesda won’t give fans a look at it.
When will The Elder Scrolls 6 come out?
There is no official release date for The Elder Scrolls 6.
Unfortunately for fans, the message did not hint at a release window for the highly anticipated “sixquel.” Xbox boss Phil Spencer stated during the Microsoft vs FTC trial that Elder Scrolls 6 was at least “five-plus years away.” This small update gave no further information about The Elder Scrolls 6 in terms of its platforms or release date.
This unfortunately means that there’s still no reason to expect the game in 2024, 2025, or perhaps even in this console generation. Since the time between Fallout 76 and Starfield was also five years, this would track with Bethesda’s current development cycle. Fans may have to wait a long while before returning to Tamriel.