It's been roughly eight years since The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim took over our lives and transported us to the dragon-infested icy tundras of developer Bethesda's fantasy domain, and two years since the company revealed that The Elder Scrolls 6 was in development.
So, it'd be fair to think that, with the launches of brand new PS5 and Xbox Series X hardware on the horizon, we'd soon be getting a look at what the next title in the open-world RPG series has to offer.
Well, sorry to disappoint, but we all thought wrong. According to Bethesda senior vice president of marketing and communications Pete Hines, any Elder Scrolls 6 reveal is likely "years" away.
- The Elder Scrolls 6: everything there is to know so far
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- Xbox Series X: what's next for Microsoft's gaming division?
Dragon-not-quite-born-yet
Instead, Hines has suggested that The Elder Scrolls 6 won't appear until "after Starfield, which you pretty much know nothing about."
"So if you’re coming at me for details now and not years from now, I’m failing to properly manage your expectations."
Starfield, like Elder Scrolls 6, was teased way back at E3 2018, promising a sci-fi adventure presumably in a similar grand scale to that of the Elder Scrolls series. It's the company's first brand new IP in 25 years. And, like Elder Scrolls 6, Bethesda has been deathly silent on its progress ever since. If it's to be revealed before any Skyrim sequel, that goes to show just how far away the next Elder Scrolls game could yet be.
So what's on the slate for Bethesda ahead of that? Deathloop, being made by the team behind Dishonored and featuring a nifty die-and-resurrect mechanic, and Ghostwire: Tokyo, a supernatural adventure with the creator of Resident Evil behind it.
