Bethesda announced The Elder Scrolls 6 so long ago that the announcement was made at an event that no longer exists. More than seven years later, Todd Howard has admitted that the highly anticipated Skyrim sequel is still nowhere near completion.
The Bethesda boss sat down with GQ to talk mostly about the future of Fallout. While a brand new Fallout game is almost certainly further along than the Skyrim sequel, fans of the series can look forward to the Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition, as well as ongoing updates to Fallout 76 and the second season of its Amazon Prime live-action adaptation.
However, Howard is well aware that whenever he talks about Bethesda's future projects, The Elder Scrolls 6 is the seven-year-old elephant in the room. While the conversation is about Fallout, GQ notes that TES 6 is the first thing Howard mentions, kicking things off by confirming that the game is “still a long way off” despite seven years of development.
“I preach patience,” Howard tells Elder Scrolls fans, admitting he's anxious to confirm we're still nowhere near playing a new entry in Bethesda's biggest franchise. It's not like TES 6 is being sidelined in favor of Fallout, as Howard admits Bethesda is currently focusing on the next Elder Scrolls game.
“Right now we have hundreds of people on Fallout, 76 and some other things we're doing, but The Elder Scrolls 6 is a day-to-day thing,” reveals Howard when asked what the studio's focus is on right now. He also added that while he believes both fans and developers need breaks from their favorite series to truly appreciate them, the break between Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls 6 was already too long.
Howard explained that Bethesda needed a “creative break” after Skyrim, which is how Starfield came about. However, the longer development cycles required for modern games meant that this hiatus was much longer than anyone would have expected, which is why, seven years on, there's still no new reveal of The Elder Scrolls 6 in sight.
While The Elder Scrolls 6 is still a long way off, the silver lining is that it doesn't have to be a case of waiting to hear more, then waiting for a trailer, then a release date, and so on. When asked about the success of Oblivion Remastered's shadow drop and whether Howard would consider the same approach for TES 6, the director called the drop a “trial run” and admitted that it worked quite well.
- Released
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2026
- ESRB
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m
- Developers
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Bethesda Game Studios
- Publishers
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Bethesda Softworks
