Its been more than a decade since The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was released, and it remains a persisting favorite among gamers.
The immensely popular game has been remastered in the years since its late 2011 release, but most Skyrim fans have played the game to absolute death. Despite those radiant quests—which essentially make the action go on forever—even die-hard fans are starting to get tired of the same old storyline.
That’s why hype for The Elder Scrolls VI is so high. People have been looking forward to the followup to Skyrim for years now, and eagerly await each new detail that is released about the upcoming game. The game was initially announced at Bethesda’s E3 2018 conference, but the company has been largely silent about The Elder Scrolls VI since then. A trailer, if you can call it that, is one of the only things fans have to cling to as they await more news about the highly-anticipated game, but a few more details have emerged over the years that some fans might not be aware of.
Here’s everything we know so far about Bethesda’s next foray into Tamriel.
The Elder Scrolls VI release date
Don’t get too excited⏤there isn’t much news about when we can expect to actually see The Elder Scrolls VI hit shelves. Bethesda has been generally tight-lipped regarding details about the game, but a few details have emerged via interviews and press releases from the company.
Todd Howard, director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios, and Xbox Head Phil Spencer have both said the game won’t arrive until after several other games are released. Howard noted that gamers won’t return to the deadly dungeons of Tamriel until after Starfield hits shelves, and Spencer expects Fable 4 to be released ahead of The Elder Scrolls VI as well.
Starfield isn’t expected to release until well into 2022, which isn’t great news for eager Skyrim fans. Fable 4‘s release date is likely even farther out, considering no official date has yet been set. In order to avoid clashing release schedules, chances are good that Fable 4 won’t hit shelves until mid-way through, or near the end of, 2023.
So buckle up, heroes of Tamriel, we’ve got a wait on our hands. I wouldn’t expect The Elder Scrolls VI to be released until mid-to-late 2024, at the earliest.
Where can you play it?
Rumors have been swirling about The Elder Scrolls VI dropping as an Xbox-exclusive title. These rumors were essentially confirmed when Microsoft purchased Bethesda in March of 2021, bringing the corporation’s total number of owned game studios up to 23.
This is good news for Xbox and PC gamers, who are all but assured full access to all future Bethesda titles. For those who play exclusively on PlayStation, however, the acquisition likely means bad news. Even owners of the shiny new PS5 won’t be able to enjoy the Elder Scrolls VI when it’s released, or potentially at all. The people at Microsoft and Bethesda haven’t outright confirmed that the title won’t be available to PS users, but chances are good that they’ll keep this particular cash-cow out of the hands of their competitors.
The game will be available to play on Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PC.
Where will the game take place?
Very few details about the game have been released to the public, but that isn’t stopping Skyrim fans from predicting where The Elder Scrolls VI might take place. A few potential locations have been pitched, including High Rock, Hammerfell, and Elsweyr.
High Rock
Currently the most popular theory online, according to PC Gamer, High Rock is a crowd favorite for The Elder Scrolls VI setting. A trailer for the new game zooms through fog to reveal a rocky, mountainous landscape. This, paired with a very subtle hint that fans think they spotted in a Starfield trailer, means that the next game could just take place in the oddly-shaped mass of land bordering both Skyrim and Hammerfell.
Hammerfell
Another potential location for The Elder Scrolls VI is Hammerfell, an area fans latched onto following a tweet from the Elder Scroll’s official Twitter account. The tweet simply displayed a map of the Province of Skyrim with several candles arrayed across it, but the location of one of those candles got fans thinking.
One of the candles is placed in a blank area of the map simply titled “Hammerfell,” sparking theories that they new game may take place there.
Elsweyr
Its not the most likely location, but fans would be absolutely thrilled if The Elder Scrolls VI took place in Elsweyr, a small region in Tamriel’s far South. Elsweyr is home to the Khajiit and is a largely unexplored area of Tamriel. That said, a 2019 expansion already focused on Elsweyr, so it’s possible Bethesda will steer clear of the location. Given the Khajiit’s popularity and the hype surrounding their homeland and its harsh badlands, however, there’s at least a slim possibility that Bethesda may choose this location as the game’s setting.
