If you’ve been holding your breath for The Elder Scrolls 6, you might want to exhale. Todd Howard, the mastermind behind Bethesda Game Studios, has once again confirmed what many of us feared: the next chapter in Tamriel’s saga is still a long way off. And honestly? He wishes he could just drop it on us without all the waiting and anticipation.
Here’s the thing—tomorrow marks 14 years since The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim first graced our screens back on November 11, 2011. Fourteen years. That’s enough time for a kid who played Skyrim on release to graduate high school, finish college, and start questioning their life choices. Yet Skyrim remains the last numbered entry in the beloved franchise, and according to Howard’s latest comments, that’s not changing anytime soon.
The waiting game nobody asked for
Sure, we got that tantalizing teaser trailer at E3 2018—you know, the one with the dramatic music and absolutely zero gameplay footage. Since then? Radio silence. But in a recent interview with GQ, Howard pulled back the curtain just a bit, confirming that The Elder Scrolls 6 is still deep in development. The good news? They’re actually working on it daily.
“I’m begging for patience, I don’t want fans to be anxious,” Howard explained. “We have hundreds of people on Fallout right now, with 76 and other things we’re doing, but The Elder Scrolls 6 is something we work on every day.”
He went on to defend the massive gap between releases, arguing that some breathing room between sequels is actually healthy for the industry. Fair point, Todd—but let’s be real, this isn’t just a gap. It’s a chasm. A 14-year-and-counting void that’s tested even the most patient of fans.
The reason? Bethesda needed a creative reset. Enter Starfield, their ambitious space RPG that was supposed to scratch that open-world itch while the team recharged their fantasy batteries. Whether that gamble paid off is still up for debate, but it’s clear the studio felt they needed to do something different before returning to the familiar shores of Tamriel.
Howard also shared his ideal scenario for game announcements: “I’d love to announce it and release it when it’s ready, though I’m not saying we’re going to do it that way. For me, the perfect situation would be that some time passes and one day the game just appears.” He pointed to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered as proof that this strategy can work—that game dropped the same day it was announced, and fans loved it.
The long road ahead
Look, nobody’s thrilled about waiting another indefinite stretch of time to explore new corners of Tamriel. But if there’s one thing Bethesda has proven over the years, it’s that they’re willing to take their time to get things right. Skyrim didn’t become a cultural phenomenon by accident—it was the result of careful crafting, ambitious world-building, and yes, plenty of development time.
So what’s a fan to do? Howard’s advice is simple: be patient. In the meantime, there’s always another playthrough of Skyrim (maybe as a stealth archer this time, just to mix things up), or you could finally give Morrowind or Oblivion the attention they deserve.
The Elder Scrolls 6 will come eventually. Just don’t expect it to be soon. Or even soon-ish. But hey, at least they’re working on it every day, right?