Bethesda Game Studios just celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Elder Scrolls series, the home of Skyrim, and gave us the slightest tease at what’s coming with Elder Scrolls 6.
The developer posted a statement on X, which told us a (very) early build of Elder Scrolls 6 is already being played by developers.
“We are in development on the next chapter - Elder Scrolls VI,” wrote Bethesda Game Studios. “Even now, returning to Tamriel and playing early builds has filled us with the same joy, excitement, and promise of adventure.”
It’s no grand reveal but suggests the developer is aiming for more of the same with the next instalment of the epic role-playing series.
Outside of experiments on mobile platforms, Bethesda has only strayed from the Elder Scrolls open-world formula twice in its big releases. They were made back in the 90s, and both proved to be minor disasters.
First, we had 1997’s Battlespire, a simpler dungeon crawler. Next up was 1998’s Redguard, a third-person action adventure. It’s better-regarded than Battlespire, but was still a commercial flop.
These were never intended to be mainline Elder Scrolls titles, though, and were in development alongside 2002’s Morrowind.
Back to modern-day Elder Scrolls, the one significant tease we’ve had of Elder Scrolls 6 to date is now years old.
As part of E3 2018, Bethesda made an Elder Scrolls 6 reveal video, showing virtual drone-style footage, floating over the landscape of Tamriel. Take a look:
The game itself is not expected to see a release until at least 2026, meaning it will almost certainly be beaten to shelves by GTA 6, due in 2025.
If you want to try out the roots of the Elder Scrolls series, you can. And for free. The first game, The Elder Scrolls: Arena, was made free in 2004 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the series.
Daggerfall went free in 2009, to celebrate The Elder Scrolls’s 15th year. The most accessible way to play these old gaming fogeys is with Daggerfall Unity, available through GOG.
It’s a rebuild of the game using the Unity game engine. The more tech-savvy can also get the latest version of Daggerfall Unity from Github.
Fancy something more up-to-date? Mobile game The Elder Scrolls: Castles may only be days away from a UK release, having popped up in Germany on March 21 and in Denmark on February 8. It’s coming to Android and iOS.
Like Fallout Shelter, The Elder Scrolls: Castles is a light management game, but one based in a castle rather than a Fallout vault.
