Information-Starved The Elder Scrolls 6 Fans Use Official Create-a-Character Competition to Come Up With a Release Date

The Elder Scrolls 6 fans are, a bit like Grand Theft Auto 6 fans, starved of information. And so perhaps it comes as no surprise to see the community go into release date speculation mode with only an official create a character competition to go on.

This week, Bethesda announced its next Make-A-Wish project: you can bid on a chance to work with Bethesda Game Studios to create a character to appear as an NPC in The Elder Scrolls 6.

“For the last several years, we have been lucky enough to work with Make-A-Wish to grant wishes, support some of their local events, and provide items and experiences, all to benefit children who are fighting life-threatening illnesses,” Bethesda said.

“This year, for their Silent Auction we are giving one winner the opportunity to work with Bethesda Game Studios to create a character to appear as an NPC in The Elder Scrolls 6. All of the money made from the auction goes directly to Make-A-Wish.”

It’s a wonderful cause and a great initiative from Bethesda, but for The Elder Scrolls 6 fans it could mean a whole lot more. And that’s because the community is comparing this Make-A-Wish project to the one Bethesda ran for Starfield, and have determined the point in development The Elder Scrolls 6 may be in currently, and thus its potential release date.

I know, the community has gone off the deep end here. But let’s run with it… for science.

The appropriately named redditor ‘FartingSlowly’ pointed out that Bethesda’s equivalent ‘chance to make a Starfield character’ post was published two-and-a-half years before Starfield came out in September 2023. Ergo, The Elder Scrolls 6’s release date is set for September 2027. More specifically, September 27, 2027.

“This is not a good indicator or metric for release by any standards,” FartingSlowly admitted. “Do not take this too seriously. But. It is finally something. It isn’t just a piece of junk speculation based on nothing, it’s based on something from Bethesda themselves. Yeah, it’s not something to actually care about but it is a refreshing change in the world of speculation.”

As you’d expect, many within the community have cast similar doubt on the release date suggested by FartingSlowly. Some have pointed out that Starfield’s Make-A-Wish competition was announced when the game was due out November 11, 2022. Does that mean Bethesda is looking at releasing The Elder Scrolls 6 in November 2026?

It’s been a long, long time since Bethesda announced The Elder Scrolls 6. In January, The Elder Scrolls 6’s June 10, 2018 announcement became as old as predecessor Skyrim was when The Elder Scrolls 6 was announced.

The studio confirmed The Elder Scrolls 6 had entered “early development” in August 2023, and “early builds” were available in March 2024. The six year anniversary of the announcement arrived in June last year and even Bethesda development chief Todd Howard paused to say, “oh wow, that has been a while.”

The Elder Scrolls 6 was thought to be set for 2028 at the earliest, presumably on the next-generation of consoles as well as PC. If it does launch then, it’ll do so an incredible 17 years after Skyrim. While we wait to find out, check out Everything we know about The Elder Scrolls 6.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.