The Elder Scrolls 6: Everything we know about the upcoming action RPG
From the latest teasers to news and rumours, here's everything we know about the next Elder Scrolls.
The Elder Scrolls 6 might be years in the future, but that doesn't stop people from asking questions. Naturally, fans celebrated the 2018 announcement trailer that confirmed the game actually existed. However, there hasn’t been much news on the title since then. In fact, there wasn’t even much of an update this past E3, though Starfield got a decent amount of spotlight.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, usually just shortened to Skyrim, entertained Bethesda fans for years. Skyrim explored the concept of open-world games before the iconic The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, offered seemingly infinite content, and even spawned a good number of memes. Skyrim even expanded to consoles and added to its already expansive world with DLC. Skyrim's Anniversary Edition came out in November 2021 and includes a decade worth of content. However, fans still can’t help but wonder what the next installment will bring.
Here’s everything we know about The Elder Scrolls 6.
There isn't yet a release date
The only thing we know is that it’s definitely coming after Starfield. Bethesda director Todd Howard said that it’s still in its design phase, which is one of the first phases of game development.
'I would say The Elder Scrolls 6 is in pre-production, and Starfield is in production,' Howard said in an interview with Geoff Knightley. He also summarized it as: 'Starfield is playable. The Elder Scrolls 6? Not in that way yet.'
Bethesda has its hands full with Starfield. However, Howard assured fans that work on Starfield also crossed over to Elder Scrolls because of their shared engine, Creation Engine 2. Starting with Starfield means figuring out the engine so that working on The Elder Scrolls 6 is a smoother process than it would’ve been without the extra step.
Starfield isn't coming until November of this year. Games industry insider Tyler McVicker even tweeted that he expected it to come as late as 2027.To be fair, Howard says they plan to make The Elder Scrolls 6 a game that lasts 10 years. Creating such a long-lasting game isn’t an easy feat, and probably takes a long time in and of itself to make.
Skyrim has apparently stayed relevant throughout console releases as a bestseller for basically everything it’s released on- a trend that has continued since its launch. In this sense, Howard and other Bethesda execs hope that The Elder Scrolls 6 follows in its footsteps.
The Elder Scrolls 6 trailer
The Elder Scrolls 6 trailer isn’t much of an actual trailer. It's more like a 30-second panoramic of the alleged setting that confirms the game's existence. Nonetheless, this trailer has the most official clues that any fan can dissect.
Where is The Elder Scrolls 6 set?
The exact location for The Elder Scrolls 6 hasn’t been confirmed. However, many fans believe it could be either High Rock or Hammerfell because of the mountainous landscape showcased in the trailer. This theory has been further supported where we've also been given possible clues within the 2021 Starfield Teaser Trailer, which shows what looks to be an outline of High Rock and Hammerfell.
TechRaptor reported that the Redfall subreddit was mistakenly dedicated to The Elder Scrolls 6 because of an unfortunate but amusing misunderstanding about the name. They believed Redfall was a subtitle to The Elder Scrolls 6, like The Elder Scrolls: Redfall. It was not.
The Elder Scrolls 6 gameplay
Bethesda will probably build off The Elder Scrolls Online and Skyrim’s gameplay for The Elder Scrolls 6. However, the studio hasn’t revealed much about new features and the like. At the very least, Bethesda revealed that they would develop the gaming using the new Creation Engine 2.
We do, however, know that it'll feature the legendary Skyrim Grandma as an NPC. Shirley Curry (a.k.a. Skyrim Grandma) has been streaming Skyrim for years, and following a petition from fans, Bethesda has confirmed that she'll make an appearance in The Elder Scrolls 6.
Is Elder Scrolls 6 an Xbox Exclusive?
Bethesda hasn't confirmed what platforms The Elder Scrolls 6 will support. However, considering Microsoft now owns Bethesada, it's likely that the game will at least be on PC and Xbox Series X/S. Maybe even Xbox One if it's still relevant in the far future.
Will The Elder Scrolls 6 come to the PS5?
Sony fans were disappointed when it was announced that Starfield won't come to the PS5, and while there is still some hope for Elder Scrolls 6, it isn't looking too great right now.
In an interview with GI.biz, Todd Howard didn’t confirm or deny exclusivity, however, he did say that it’s "hard to imagine" it staying Xbox-exclusive. This is while, Xbox boss, Phil Spencer keeps hinting that it won't come to the PS5.
Forbes pointed out that part of these hesitant responses could be in anticipation of how cloud gaming becomes relevant in the next few years. That technology can shake up exclusivity deals fairly quickly.
In short, it’s still too early to say for sure.
The Elder Scrolls 6 pre-orders
There aren’t any The Elder Scrolls 6 pre-orders available yet, which makes sense considering that this game could be coming up to five years in the future. After all, not even Starfield has pre-orders available yet.
We’ll be sure to update this section in the future once pre-orders go live, but in the meantime, you might want to revist Skyrim, or even check out some of the earlier Elder Scrolls titles with Bethesda adding free copies of both Arena and Daggerfall to Steam.