When is Elder Scrolls 6 out? We finally have our first official look at the game courtesy of a short teaser trailer. The video opens with the classic musical motif from the series and a panning shot of some mountains before the logo appears, confirming that The Elder Scrolls 6 is real, at least.
We might have been spoilt by excellent games in the series already, but, frankly, we’re ready to dive back into the Elder Scrolls universe – they’re still some of the best PC games ever made, and we’re hopeful that Elder Scrolls 6 will follow suit. Bethesda director Todd Howard says we’ll be sinking our teeth in the Elder Scrolls 6’s gameplay “for a decade at least.” Here’s everything we know about the Elder Scrolls 6 release date, including its potential setting, gameplay features, and expectations for when it’ll arrive.
Elder Scrolls 6 release date speculation
The Elder Scrolls 6 release date is expected to land no earlier than 2026 for PC and Xbox Series X/S consoles, according to a lawyer representing Microsoft during the FTC hearing regarding the company’s purchase of Activision Blizzard.
In 2016, analyst Michael Pachter optimistically predicted that The Elder Scrolls 6 release date would arrive in 2017, but he was immediately proven wrong. In 2021, industry insider Tyler McVicker indicated that we shouldn’t expect The Elder Scrolls 6 until at least 2026.
With this year’s focus for Bethesda being placed on hitting the Starfield release date, it came as no surprise when, in August 2023, Pete Hines confirmed that Elder Scrolls 6 was still “in early development.”
Elder Scrolls 6 trailer
Before we crack on with all the juicy news and rumors, here’s the Elder Scrolls 6 trailer. Judging by the terrain, it looks like TES 6 is taking us to either Hammerfell, home of the Redguard people, or High Rock, which is where the Breton race hails from.
Elder Scrolls 6 news
The most recent report we have on The Elder Scrolls 6 is that the game is now in what Bethesda’s head of publishing, Pete Hines, calls “early development.”
We’re also aware that YouTuber Shirley Curry, more widely known as ‘Skyrim Grandma’, will be an NPC in The Elder Scrolls 6. Bethesda revealed the news during The Elder Scrolls 25th anniversary stream after a fan petition racked up 49,322 signatures to make it happen. Regarding other NPCs, there will also possibly be a tribute to an Elder Scrolls fan whose dream it was to appear in Skyrim.
There is also an interview between Pete Hines and VGR, which explains exactly why Bethesda announced The Elder Scrolls 6 at such an early stage: “We were honestly a little tired of being asked about Elder Scrolls VI”. So there you have it, the reveal doesn’t necessarily tell us anything about how far into production the Skyrim sequel is, just that Bethesda is sick to death of fielding the question.
Elder Scrolls 6 location
When you see the Elder Scrolls 6 announcement trailer, there are two Elder Scrolls locations that may well spring to mind: High Rock and Hammerfell. Why? Mountains, large areas of coastline, and dry, arid landscapes.
But until Bethesda reveals more, we don’t know what the Elder Scrolls 6 setting will be. The past few numbered entries to the series have mostly stuck to one region but, given the ambitious ideas going into the game, The Elder Scrolls 5 might see us travel to multiple regions. We might even see an entire continent, The Elder Scrolls Online-style.
There was some speculation that The Elder Scrolls 6 reveal trailer did not necessarily reflect an in-game setting and was just intended to set the tone. However, Todd Howard has revealed in an interview with Eurogamer that The Elder Scrolls 6 location has been known for a while and that the trailer allows you to rule some locations out.
Our best guess is Hammerfell, and that is because of a tweet that was published at the end of 2020. It showed a map of Skyrim with the words “transcribe the past and map the future”. Cross-referencing this with the entire map of Tamriel, we can see that though the borders of Cyrodiil (the setting for The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion) and High Rock (the land of the high elves) are shown, they’re a lot more obscured than the region of Hammerfell to the southwest.
Hammerfell, home to the Redguards, also has a white circle on it, which could be a good indication that this is where we’re heading for the next Elder Scrolls game. It supports the footage from the trailer mentioned earlier with the region being mountainous. That said, there’s also speculation that this tweet is referring to a possible expansion to The Elder Scrolls: Online but nothing has been confirmed as of yet.
Elder Scrolls 6 races
If The Elder Scrolls 6 does go somewhere completely new, perhaps we will see a few new races added to the formula, with all-new lore and gameplay styles to get to grips with.
However, no new races were added to Skyrim, so it is less likely we will see some new species or races if The Elder Scrolls 6 sticks to Tamriel. That said, Sea Elves – also known as Maormer – do feature in The Elder Scrolls Online, so perhaps they could return in a numbered main entry to the series.
Elder Scrolls 6 story
One of the things that set Skyrim apart from the rest of the series is its complex narrative full of political intrigue. Your role in the game’s civil war decides the fate of a troubled kingdom only nominally part of the Empire. Here’s hoping that The Elder Scrolls 6 story takes things to a new level.
While the Elder Scrolls 6 story would, to an extent, depend on the setting and its history, hopefully, the narrative of the game will match the ambition going into the game in its early stages.
That’s everything we know about the Elder Scrolls 6 release date. If you’re eager to sink your teeth into a Bethesda RPG in the near future, we have a motherlode of Starfield details to get you ready, including everything we know about Starfield planets and the Starfield factions you’ll have to contend with, as well as information on Starfield traits and Starfield skills, which form the bedrock for Starfield character creation as you explore everything its galaxy has to offer.
We’ve also got guides to which Starfield background is best for you and all the Starfield missions. Going from the developer’s pedigree, it’s hard not to think that whatever they put out has the potential to be one of the best RPG games ever made.
