The Elder Scrolls 6 has been waiting in the background for so long that even small updates now feel bigger than they should. Bethesda announced the game in 2018 with a short teaser, then spent the years after that saying very little in public.
The latest update is different from what many players were hoping to see. The game is reportedly still at least two to three years away, which would push it to 2028 or later if that timeline holds.
For a series that last had a mainline entry with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in 2011, the wait has become part of the story. Fans are not only asking when the game will launch. They are asking when Bethesda will finally show what it has been building.
Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier said during a live Q&A that The Elder Scrolls 6 is still “two to three years away at least.” Bethesda has not announced a release year, so this is still a report, not an official launch window.
The timing matches Bethesda's quiet approach to the game. The studio has confirmed that development is moving, but it has not shown gameplay, shared a setting, or given players a proper update beyond broad progress comments.
If the report is accurate, The Elder Scrolls 6 is not close to becoming part of Xbox’s near-term release plans. It also means the gap between Skyrim and the next main game may stretch toward 17 years.
The 2018 teaser did what it was meant to do. It told fans that the next Elder Scrolls was real, even though Bethesda was still focused on other projects.
That teaser has become harder to look back on with each passing year. There is still no gameplay trailer, no confirmed province, no release window, and no clear platform list.
That silence is why every small comment gets pulled apart. When a game has gone this long without a real reveal, even a report about development timing becomes a major update for fans.
The good news is that The Elder Scrolls 6 is now in development. Bethesda has said early builds are being played internally, and Todd Howard has talked about the game moving toward a major milestone.
However, that does not mean The Elder Scrolls 6 will be released anytime soon. Big Bethesda RPGs take a long time because the studio has to build the world, quests, systems, exploration, and mod support into one working game.
Bethesda is also under more pressure after the mixed response to Starfield. Many players liked parts of Bethesda’s sci-fi RPG, but the next Elder Scrolls will be judged against years of memories from Skyrim, Oblivion, and Morrowind.
The latest report comes while Xbox and Bethesda are going through a rough business reset. Microsoft is cutting jobs across Xbox, and ZeniMax is being pushed to focus more clearly on its biggest franchises.
That should keep The Elder Scrolls near the center of Bethesda’s plans. It is one of the strongest names Microsoft owns in gaming, and it is too important to treat like a side project.
The main concern is not whether the game is important, but when players will finally get to play it. The concern is how long fans have to wait before Microsoft and Bethesda are ready to show something real.
Bethesda does not have to rush The Elder Scrolls 6 because fans are waiting. A game this big will only get one real comeback moment, and the first gameplay reveal has to land well.
The next showcase should answer the biggest questions that players still have about the game. Players need to see the world, the tone, the role-playing systems, and the kind of fantasy RPG Bethesda wants to make after all these years.
If the game is still at least two years away, silence may continue for a while. When The Elder Scrolls 6 finally returns, it needs to feel like a game, not another reminder of a teaser from 2018.
