When is The Elder Scrolls 6 release date? It has been well over a decade since the release of Skyrim, the biggest title in the series (and yes, we mean the original release date and not the re-releases), so we’re hoping to see more about the sequel soon.
It must be a lot of pressure for the team at Bethesda Game Studios to follow up on one of the best games of all time, but we have a lot of trust that the upcoming Elder Scrolls title will be one of the best Xbox RPG games available. For now, though, here’s everything you need to know about the next installment in The Elder Scrolls series.
The Elder Scrolls 6 release date speculation
The Elder Scrolls 6 release date is expected to arrive in 2028 at the earliest on Xbox consoles and PC. This is according to Xbox head Phil Spencer, who claimed in 2023 during Microsoft’s court battle with the FTC that TES 6 is “so far out” and “a game that’s like five-plus years away”.
However, during the same court battle, Microsoft’s lawyer states that Elder Scrolls 6 is slated for a 2026 release window, according to The Verge’s coverage of the case. We believe that this is a simple mistake, as it contradicts Phil Spencer’s statement.
The game seems such a long way off that Spencer couldn’t even say which console systems it would launch on, as it may not be ready until the generation after the Xbox Series X and S. The next generation of consoles is expected to arrive in 2027 or 2028. We don’t know about you, but The Elder Scrolls 6 would make quite the launch title for some new Xbox hardware, don’t you think?
It’s not only Spencer’s comments that point towards TES 6 being many years away. In a 2021 interview with The Telegraph, Bethesda head Todd Howard said that the game was still in a ‘design phase’. We also know that the game is likely still in pre-production thanks to an employee’s LinkedIn profile. Fanny Manset, HR manager at the studio, states that Bethesda Game Studios is still in “pre-production on the highly-anticipated The Elder Scrolls VI”, as of the last time they updated their portfolio in January 2023.
It’s unlikely that Bethesda will fully pivot to TES 6 until the Starfield release date, and maybe even the release of the first Starfield DLC, has passed. Since we haven’t seen much information about Elder Scrolls 6 since the announcement trailer in 2018, Bethesda is unlikely ready to show off more of the game until it is close to release.
While it’ll certainly hit Xbox and PC platforms, news around a PlayStation release of The Elder Scrolls 6 is uncertain. The likelihood is that it will be a full console exclusive for Xbox, similarly to Starfield.
The Elder Scrolls 6 location speculation
The Elder Scrolls 6 location is expected to be Hammerfell, based on some teases from Bethesda Game Studios.
For example, a tweet from The Elder Scrolls’ official Twitter account to celebrate the New Year for 2021 had three candles strategically placed; one above the map, one in Skyrim, and the last one underneath the label for Hammerfell. It is believed that the candle above the map lines up with space, referencing Starfield. The tweet also asks players to “transcribe the past and map the future”, and since Hammerfell has been explored in previous games, it could be the ‘past’ referenced in the tweet.
As for High Rock, well, the terrain of the only trailer for the game certainly features high areas with rock formations. But aside from that, Starfield also had a small teaser for Elder Scrolls 6 in a trailer, with an outline of a map of High Rock within the cockpit of a spaceship, as spotted by u/Fair_Industry7328 on The Elder Scrolls subreddit.
From what little information we have so far, it could even be both locations based on the teases, Bethesda Game Studios’ games are a lot bigger now than when Skyrim was released. Until we get an official name of the game like Skyrim before it or confirmation from Bethesda Game Studios, it is anyone’s guess where the next Elder Scrolls game will take place.
The Elder Scrolls 6 story speculation
Unfortunately, we have no confirmation on what the story of The Elder Scrolls 6 will entail. However, due to the success of Skyrim, we’re likely to see another story that follows a deeply political narrative amidst a fantasy setting, with your character at the center of it all.
Since the stakes are already higher, thanks to the popularity of the series since Skyrim’s release, Bethesda Game Studios is likely putting a lot of time and effort into making sure it is a successful sequel. And, as the main story is a driving factor in any RPG game, we expect the plot of The Elder Scrolls 6, both in the main narrative and side content, to be very impressive.
The Elder Scrolls 6 races speculation
If The Elder Scrolls 6 is returning to Hammerfell or High Rock for the next installment in the series, it is unlikely that any new races would be introduced due to the lore of Tamriel. However, if the game decides to take us somewhere unfamiliar, you could certainly see some new races that you can play as.
For now, since Skyrim decided to only use existing races in The Elder Scrolls series, and the teases pointing at an old location being used, we don’t expect any new races to arrive. Hopefully, we will get some confirmation on this sooner rather than later.
What could we see from The Elder Scrolls 6’s gameplay?
While we have yet to see any gameplay from Bethesda Game Studios, we can expect improvements across the board since the release of Skyrim game in the series in 2011.
Firstly, we can expect better fighting and combat gameplay overall. While Skyrim was an exceptional game, it doesn’t have the best melee combat systems so an upgrade that would offer more in-depth combat and spellcasting, which would be a huge plus.
We also expect changes and improvements in relationships between you and the NPCs, a bigger area to explore with various new points of interest, exciting opportunities to build your own home, and more. So, we basically hope for a bigger and better Skyrim, which shouldn’t be too surprising.
That’s everything we know about The Elder Scrolls 6 release date, which, unfortunately, doesn’t have a lot of solid evidence just yet. And given the history of the Starfield release date, it could be a while until we have any confirmed launch date and the game becomes one of the best games of all time or best Xbox games.
