More than eight years on from its official announcement, The Elder Scrolls 6 is still at least two more years from release.
That’s according to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, speaking last night during a live Q&A discussing this week’s dramatic changes at Xbox which have seen 1,600 staff made redundant and at least four studios cut from the company’s roster. A further 1,600 job losses are currently planned over the course of this year.
Doom developer id Software was gutted, as was ZeniMax Online Studios, developer of The Elder Scrolls Online. In an email to Bethesda staff sent following the announcement of the cuts, Bethesda boss Jill Braff said the company will now double down on its “strongest franchises,” which suggests the likes of Fallout and — yes — The Elder Scrolls. But IGN also understands that layoffs have taken place within Bethesda Game Studios among staff working on TES 6.
All of which begs the question of when TES 6 will finally launch, and whether Xbox can do anything to make good on its plans to speed up the game’s development without compromising on its quality — and hold back from impacting its team further in future rounds of layoffs.
Bethesda chief Todd Howard formally announced The Elder Scrolls 6 during the company’s E3 press conference in Los Angeles back in June 2018, via a CGI trailer which revealed very little. In the years since, fans have seen nothing more. While few dared to hope that June’s Xbox Game Showcase would finally see the title re-emerge, there has been a growing sense of concern among fans who are starting to worry about how long it’s taking for the sequel to the all-conquering Skyrim to actually release.
The last time Todd Howard talked about The Elder Scrolls 6 was in March 2026, when he joked that we should all pretend Bethesda hadn’t announced it. This is a recurring theme; in February, Howard admitted — once again — that he would have preferred not to have announced the game so early.
Howard warned eager fans as recently as last November that the game is “still a long way off,” and has even teased that he may just shadow-drop it. He reiterated in February that “it’s gonna be a while yet,” and confirmed that, “We’re able to play it, we’re about to pass a big milestone internally, the majority of the studio is on the game and some of our partners.”
In a recent interview with Variety, Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty suggested that when Bethesda does get around to showing off The Elder Scrolls 6, it will signal that the game itself will be released soon. Booty also offered some reassurance, saying he’s visited Bethesda to watch the game being played, and “it’s coming along well.” As for when the reveal will be… “at the right time.”
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
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