The Elder Scrolls VI is Likely 5 Plus Years Away, Says Phil Spencer - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 23 June 2023 / 8,357 Views
Bethesda Softworks five years ago at E3 2018 announced The Elder Scrolls VI and it looks like the game is likely five or more years away from release.
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer during the FTC vs Microsoft hearing today was asked about The Elder Scrolls VI and what platforms it would launch on. He wasn't able to provide concrete details on what platforms the game will launch on as it is so far from launch.
"As I said, with Elder Scrolls VI, it's so far out," said Spencer. "It's hard to understand what platforms will even be at this point. It's the same team that's finishing Starfield, which comes out this September. So we're talking about a game that's like five-plus years away."
With the game possibly five or more years away from launch it might not even get a release on the Xbox Series X|S as Microsoft expects the next-generation of consoles to launch in 2028, which is five years from now.
The next game from Bethesda, the developers of The Elder Scrolls and Fallout series, Starfield is set to launch on the Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Xbox Game Pass on September 6.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Game announced 5 years into 8th gen consoles will end up being 10th gen launch title...
Would be funny to see ESVI playable anywere, except Playstation systems.
I wonder If MS you chose this Path, "Play anywere, except Playstation"
So Skyrim released in 2011 and they are saying they don’t expect TES6 to release until 2028?
I kinda feel something has gone seriously wrong within Bethesda if there’s 17 years and two whole console generations between instalments of one of their tentpole franchises.
A big problem is Todd Howard wanting to Direct each mainline Bethesda game whereas most studios have multiple Directors. After Skyrim he Directed Fallout 4, then a big chunk of Bethesda started working on Fallout 76 while Todd was working on Starfield while also doing a complete overhaul of the engine. AAA games take 5-6 years to make.
Another reason why they weren’t in a rush to work on ESVI is because of the success of Elder Scrolls Online. So 5 years to make ESVI lines up with AAA game development after Starfield releases.
I can understand not being in a rush to make TES6 but 17 years seems like going too far in the other direction. By the time Fallout 5 releases that series will probably be in the same situation, so personally I think Todd Howard need to get someone else in a similar role so they don’t have to have all their eggs in one basket at any one time.
What you say about ESO tracks as the only comparable situation I can think of is with GTA where GTA6 seems like vapourware due to the ongoing success of GTA Online.
I mean don't rush by all means, but I also look back on all the content that was either half baked, or cut from Oblivion, Skyrim , Fallout 3 and Fallout 4.
So if he's meant to take his time, I now fully expect a non situation where content leads to a dead end, like the Blades questline in Skyrim, which to this day remains borked and unfinished, and it was a secondary storyline to the main story.
The main issue I see with taking nearly 2 decades for this, is that we are going to naturally expect this to be the biggest, beefiest, most polished game, because let's be honest, the only game out there atm that's taking forever to finish is Star Citizen, and I know Chris Roberts is super bad at leading his company/vision (just like how Todd has been documented as being in the past).
This is why you don't tease the game 5+years ago,...
It's already been 13 years since the last ES mainline game, and now you're pulling another 5years+ the 5 years you already had when you teased this way back in 2018. if you're going to take another 5+years, we're looking at 18 years, that's nearly 2 decades for a new mainline game...
Like I've seen C&C have a tiny comeback with their remastered collection done faster than this, and EA cared little for that.
Ugh.....Skyrim will be damn near 20 years old by the time the sequel releases lol
Starfield gonna be keeping us busy for years though at least.
This isn't a big surprise. Bethesda focuses on one game at a time. So full production on Elder Scrolls VI won't start until after Starfield comes out in a few months.
That's the problem with consolidated power it ends up shackling you and sooner or later the refusal to empower those under you comes back to bite you ,I would think it would be hard to argue that more investment along with better mentoring and pathways for senior production staff that put The Elder Scrolls on a 5 year cycle would have benefited Bethesda much more than the present policy that will see 17 years between new game releases.
It will be an Xbox exclusive, let's not kid ourselves.
Maybe it will come to the Switch 2 or 3.
This is getting ridiculous. At this rate it will be out on next gen consoles.
I wonder how much less of an RPG it will be. Skyrim and Fallout 4 stripped about everything out. They could take 25 years and still be a buggy mess and being "open world" is no longer an excuse with MS finding. Nintendo has done polished open world games with Xenoblade and Zelda several times in the past decade.
Annouced 2018, Likely to realease in 2028-2029!
This shit is so wrong! Why the fuck annouce this game so early!?
lol. ESVI launch title for next gen
Announced in 2018, release around 2028-2029?
That is beyond unacceptable.
Unfortunate, I was kind of hoping that Bethesda would somehow be able to get it out in like 2026. But I guess that was always a pipe dream considering Bethesda is going to support Starfield with more content (expansions) years after Starfield is done with development. Probably a launch title for the next gen Xbox (which would certainly be a huge game to have as a launch title).
Will it still be huge, 15 years after that last Elder Scrolls game? Many Skyrim players will have moved away from gaming by that time. And there will be a full generation that has barely even heard of it.
Probably 2030 at the earliest
Imagine what they could do with that activision blizzard aquisition money, we'd have elder scrolls in 2 years time instead.
Sure lol
Its an none issue and expected. StarField looks set to offer players years of game during ES6 development.
Lawyer should of asked, what it would take to get a firm yes on Elder Scrolls coming to Playstation under oath, and made Phil say nothing 0% chance of it coming.
So you're saying I can skip this generation and get the Xbox Roundabout XZ-spectrum in 2028?
