Bethesda hasn’t been particularly generous with updates on The Elder Scrolls 6 since the game was first announced back in 2018, which almost feels like an eternity now. Even so, excitement around Bethesda’s next major RPG continues to mount. Much of what we know about the highly anticipated sequel so far comes from the man himself, Todd Howard, who has been careful not to reveal too much but has still shared enough to give us a sense of where development is currently at and what players might expect. While we still eagerly await an in-engine trailer or a confirmed setting, here’s a full rundown of everything we know so far, including the expected release window, setting, and other important details about The Elder Scrolls 6.
The Elder Scrolls 6: Release Date and Platforms
As of writing, The Elder Scrolls 6 still doesn’t have a confirmed release date, which isn’t all that surprising considering the scope and how the development has been progressing. The good news is that the game has officially moved past pre-production and is now in active development.
In a recent interview with GQ, Howard stated that while big teams at Bethesda are still busy working on the next Fallout title, The Elder Scrolls 6 has become part of the studio’s day-to-day development. “We have hundreds of people on Fallout right now, with 76 and some other things we’re doing, but The Elder Scrolls 6 is the everyday thing,” Howard told GQ. Based on this, it’s unlikely that the game will release anytime before 2027 or even 2028, although that timeline remains unconfirmed for now.
As for platforms, The Elder Scrolls 6 is confirmed to launch on Xbox Series X and Series S, as well as PC, with Game Pass support. That said, Microsoft hasn’t locked in exclusivity for the game just yet. In a 2020 interview, Howard stated that it was “hard to imagine” the series not releasing on multiple platforms, so a PlayStation 5 release is not completely out of the question for now.
What Will The Location for The Elder Scrolls 6 Be?
There’s still very little to go on when it comes to the story or setting of The Elder Scrolls 6, largely because of Bethesda’s silence around the game. Outside of the short teaser shown back in 2018, the studio hasn’t shared any real details.
Todd Howard, however, did say that the 2018 teaser contains some clues as to where the game would be set and that the location was decided a long while ago. This has led fans to speculate that the game’s setting could be High Rock or Hammerfell, especially given the rocky landscape seen in the teaser. For now, though, it’s still anyone’s guess where Bethesda will take the franchise next.
What Else Do We Know About The Elder Scrolls 6?
Not much, apparently. Bethesda hasn’t said much about The Elder Scrolls 6, which makes sense given that the game is still in early development. That said, one of the most concrete updates the studio has shared so far is that the game already exists in early playable form. During the series’ 30th anniversary celebrations, Bethesda teased that “…returning to Tamriel and playing early builds has us filled with the same joy, excitement, and promise of adventure,” confirming that development has gotten past the conceptual stage, even if release is still a long way off.
And if Todd Howard is to be believed, much of that time has been spent creating the game’s framework. Howard has repeatedly stressed that the game is still very much in the extended design and technology-building phase. “It’s good to think of The Elder Scrolls 6 as still being in a design (phase),” Todd Howard said in a June 2021 interview. “But we’re checking the tech: ‘Is this going to handle the things we want to do in that game?’ Every game will have some new suites of technology so Elder Scrolls 6 will have some additions on to Creation Engine 2 that that game is going to require.”
He further went on to say that the technology was simply not ready when the game was first announced and that the studio spent much of the last decade focusing on titles like Fallout, Fallout 76, and Starfield, which served as both a creative reset and a necessary step to help the studio develop its next generation of RPGs.
Nonetheless, the game’s development has reached the point where large internal playtests are already being done to evaluate what’s already in the game and where development still needs to go. “We did a big play test yesterday for The Elder Scrolls 6, and you have to really look at the screen and say, “What is this? What does this need? Where are we at?” Great games are played, not made. The screen doesn’t lie,” Howard told GQ during a recent interview.
Is There Any Trailer For The Elder Scrolls 6?
Not really, at least not in the way most fans were hoping. The only official footage of The Elder Scrolls 6 is the 36-second teaser trailer that Bethesda showed off at E3 2018. The clip features a cinematic shot of a mountainous landscape followed by the game’s title reveal, and that’s about it. Since then, Bethesda hasn’t released a second trailer and it’s likely going to stay that way for a while longer.
Are There Any Games Like The Elder Scrolls 6?
There’s no shortage of open-world fantasy games to fill the gap. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim remains one of the best RPGs ever made, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is also worth revisiting thanks to its classic setting and quest design. If you’re looking beyond The Elder Scrolls series, titles like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Avowed, Dragon’s Dogma 2, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance II are all worth checking out.
