Bethesda boss Todd Howard has given a new update on The Elder Scrolls 6, and the big takeaway is that while the game is playable already, it’s not releasing anytime soon.
Speaking to GQ, Howard said the highly anticipated RPG is “still a long way off.” Howard is directing the game, and he told fans that they should get comfortable because it’s going to be a while. “I’m preaching patience,” he said. “I don’t want fans to feel anxious.”
Howard said The Elder Scrolls 6 is “the everyday thing” as it relates to what he spends his time and attention on these days at the studio.
“We did a big play test yesterday for The Elder Scrolls 6, and you have to really look at the screen and say, ‘What is this? What does this need? Where are we at?’ Great games are played, not made. The screen doesn’t lie,” he added.
As for why Bethesda didn’t immediately make The Elder Scrolls 6 after the massively successful Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Howard said the team “needed a creative reset.” So the studio followed up Skyrim with Fallout 4 in 2015, Fallout 76 in 2018, and Starfield in 2023. Throughout these releases, Bethesda also re-released Skyrim on so many platforms it became something of a meme.
Bethesda oversaw the development of 2025’s The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered from developer Virtuos. It had a successful launch and is now the No. 5 best-selling game of 2025 in the US. The game was shadow-dropped, and Howard said he would like to do something like that again with a future Bethesda release like The Elder Scrolls 6.
“I like to just announce stuff and release it. My perfect version–and I’m not saying this is going to happen–is that it’s going to be a while and then, one day, the game will just appear,” he said.
Howard personally announced The Elder Scrolls 6 at E3 2018. More than seven years later, Bethesda has not shared any official details about the game, however, prompting fans to wonder about the game’s status.
According to Bethesda veteran Bruce Nesmith, who has since left the company, Howard only agreed to announce the game so early because fans were coming with “pitchforks and torches” inquiring about the game. Howard himself has said he often wonders if it was the right thing to announce The Elder Scrolls 6 so early. “I have asked myself that a lot,” he said. “I don’t know. I probably would’ve announced it more casually.”
Bethesda broke with tradition by announcing The Elder Scrolls 6 so early, as the company previously announced Fallout 4 in June 2015 and launched it just five months later. Skyrim, meanwhile, was announced in December 2010 and debuted less than a year later. Things later shifted, as Bethesda announced Starfield in 2018 and didn’t launch it until September 2023.
Oblivion Remastered saw Bethesda go back to the earlier playbook, though. The game was the subject of numerous leaks and reports, but wasn’t actually ever officially announced before it was shadow-dropped in April 2025.
In addition to The Elder Scrolls 6, Bethesda continues to support Fallout 76 with new content, including things based on the Prime Video TV series. Bethesda is also developing Fallout 5, along with a reported Fallout 3 remaster.
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