It’s almost six years since Bethesda announced it was working on the development of The Elder Scrolls 6. After the initial announcement made at E3 2018, the developers maintained radio silence about the next entry in its famous franchise for a really time.
Meanwhile, last year they launched Starfield on September 6, 2023. During the promotions of Starfield, Bethesda’s Game Director and Executive Producer Todd Howard was asked about the Elder Scrolls 6, and here’s what he revealed.
Todd Howard says they are taking their time
Howard expressed his strong belief in Bethesda making the right call to take extremely long periods of time to develop its titles. He said, that even though they would like to deliver games faster, “speed isn’t the goal” he highlights. He also says that he believes that ultimately, “it’s about just doing it right.”
He says,
“I think Half-Life 3 will do fine, right? So even though in the moment, how do I bring that closer to reality today, because I want to play it, those gaps, these are still evergreen franchises that I think when they come, it’s about just doing it right. I want to be faster, but speed isn’t the goal.”
That being said, considering that Bethesda had elaborate plans to support Starfield with additional content and updates over a long period of time, it won’t be surprising to see Elder Scrolls 6 take a long time in Bethesda’s oven.
When is Elder Scrolls 6 expected?
Earlier, Bethesda revealed that The Elder Scrolls 6 has finally left its lengthy pre-production and that currently it is in its development stage. In March 2024, as part of the 30-year celebration of The Elder Scrolls, the devs subtly revealed that “early builds” of the game are being played internally at Bethesda.
Nevertheless, it is safe to say it is still in its very early days. The closest thing that players can expect is maybe hope for a beta or alpha test of Elder Scrolls 6 in the coming months. However, that too cannot be said with certainty.
Nevertheless, it is only good to know that at least the project is moving ahead in its development cycle. Some suggest that Elder Scrolls 6 is projected to be released in “early 2026.” In fact, it won’t be surprising to see The Elder Scrolls 6 skip the current generation of consoles entirely.
Notably, Bethesda has a track record of long development cycles and a history of long gaps between two different titles too, let alone two titles of the same franchise. Considering that the last Elder Scrolls game out way back in 2011, and it’s already been around 13 years and counting in the waiting, the news of Elder Scrolls 6 being in development itself is a relief.
