The Elder Scrolls 6: What’s happening with the Skyrim follow-up?

When last we checked in on the possible whereabouts of The Elder Scrolls 6, we were still nowhere near to knowing when it was likely to be released. At the end of August last year, Bethesda confirmed the Skyrim follow-up was in early development, and there was some info implying it would take until at least 2026. Maybe. Other than that, we’re non-the-wiser.

So what can we say for certain when it comes to the next Elder Scrolls game? Honestly, other than it’s currently in the works, there’s little to go on. Pretty much everything else has been a rumor or some wishful thinking.

Outside that, the only thing we’ve really been given is an official teaser trailer. However, as of next month, even this will be five years old, having been released in June 2018. And it didn’t actually tell us much other than TES6 was happening, combined with a bird’s-eye shot over an unnamed bit of Tamriel. It did, however, get people guessing where it’s likely to be set (Hammerfell is the most popular theory).

Why is it taking so long?

Given the enormous legacy of Skyrim, the game that follows it is going to have to be pretty spectacular. That shit takes time, I’m sure we can all agree. However, TES5 came out towards the latter part of 2011. That makes it more than 13 years old at this point. A lot’s gone on in that time.

Since then, Bethesda has released two Fallout games (with a fifth entry now in development), The Elder Scrolls online, and Starfield. Within the past decade or so, fans have heard very little about TES6, aside from the aforementioned teaser and details mentioned above.

We know it’s definitely part of Bethesda’s focus. In March of this year, a post went out on the studio’s Twitter/X account to celebrate 30 years of The Elder Scrolls. In it was a message that said the “next chapter” was still very much in development, and some of the team had been “playing early builds.” That doesn’t mean we’re closer to a potential release date, but maybe we can take comfort in knowing that work is underway on the project.

Can it ever hope to live up to the hype?

Look, we’ve been here before. Duke Nukem Forever is the poster child of what can happen when development on a long-awaited sequel takes way longer than anticipated. It quickly became a scapegoat for terrible video game follow-ups that don’t match the years they spent in development.

To be fair, though, Duke Nukem Forever had a number of factors working against it. Switching studios in the middle of development surely didn’t help. On top of that, by the time it was released in 2011 – having spent 14 years in development – some of the humor and references were massively outdated, turning what should have been a fun FPS into something that inspired eye rolls from players.

The Elder Scrolls 6 is at least being kept close to the chest of the series’ original developer. Bethesda surely knows what it’s doing with its intellectual property, but as the years go by, hype is only going to build, and it’s hard to stay excited for something for this long.

What we know so far

As of right now, here’s a list of things we can at least be a bit confident about when it comes to Elder Scrolls 6:

• TITLE: The Elder Scrolls 6 (no subtitle yet)
• DEVELOPER: Bethesda
• SETTING: Unknown
• STORY: Unknown
• RELEASE DATE: Unknown
• PLATFORMS: PC and Xbox are pretty much guaranteed, but we could be looking at a newer console generation by the time TES6 hits digital storefronts.
• BEERS I’VE DRANK SINCE SKYRIM CAME OUT IN 2011: An unhealthy amount.

Also, here’s an interesting fact that will blow your mind: it took 17 years to get from TES1: Arena (1994) to TES5: Skyrim (2011). This means in four years’ time, TES6 will account for half the lifespan of the entire Elder Scrolls franchise. Boom.