Bethesda says it will be 'years from now' before we get Elder Scrolls 6 details

News
By published

Pete Hines says the answer isn't going to change, no matter how many times you ask.

A vista of plains and mountains with the worlds "The Elder Scrolls VI" over the top.
(Image credit: Bethesda)

The Elder Scrolls 6 was announced at E3 2018 with a brief flyover of nondescript mountains, some generic music, and a title that wasn't really a title at all because it didn't even say where the game will be located. Despite the complete lack of any actual information, everyone was very excited to learn that a new addition to one of the biggest, most successful RPG series of all time was in fact being made.

At PAX East in 2019, executive producer Todd Howard warned that the new Elder Scrolls was still a very long way off, and that Bethesda wouldn't be talking about it at E3 that year. Then E3 2019 rolled around and people wanted to talk about it anyway, leading Howard to say that the sci-fi RPG Starfield is Bethesda's priority right now, and it's a long way off too. 

We thought maybe we might get some word about TES6 this year, but then E3 was cancelled and Bethesda apparently didn't have enough in the pipe to justify a digital show of its own, clearly indicating that it still doesn't have anything to say about it.

Well, no. Not according to Bethesda's SVP of marketing and communications Pete Hines, anyway, and he's in a good position to know about this sort of thing. 

Hope springs eternal in the human breast and all that, but seriously, leave the poor man alone.

Here's all we know about The Elder Scrolls so far, which to be perfectly honest isn't much. One interesting tidbit centers around a trademark beef, settled in 2019, over the word "Redfall." Some redditors have theorized that it could be a reference to a plague that will feature in the game in some way, perhaps similar to the Corprus disease at the center of Morrowind; it could also be a reference to the Redguards who make their home in Hammerfell, a region that hasn't been explored since the 1998 spinoff The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard.

Or maybe it's nothing of the sort. We just don't know—and we won't for a long time yet.

Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.