Bethesda Finally Broke The Silence On Elder Scrolls 6 And Here Is The Vibe Check

Look, I’m not going to ask how old you were when The Elder Scrolls 6 was first announced. I don’t want to ruin your day. We’ve all got a few more grey hairs, maybe a mortgage, or perhaps a lingering back pain that wasn’t there when we first saw that misty mountain teaser trailer.

But hey, we finally have signs of life.

The head honcho himself, Todd Howard, along with a few key players at Bethesda, recently decided to pop their heads out of the development cave to give us a status report. Did they give us a release date? Absolutely not. Did they give us a release window? Also no. But they did confirm that the machine is running, the majority of the studio is working on it, and they are fully aware that we are all slowly losing our minds waiting for it.

Here is the lowdown on what’s happening with the most anticipated RPG of the decade, without the corporate speak.

The Whole Studio is Basically Living in Tamriel Now

For the longest time, it felt like TES6 was just a sticky note on someone’s monitor that said “Do this later.” But according to the latest chat with Game Informer, things have shifted gears.

Todd Howard confirmed that the development is “progressing really well.” The big takeaway here is resource allocation. He mentioned that the “majority of the studio” is now officially working on The Elder Scrolls 6. That is a massive shift from the days when everyone was polishing space suits for Starfield.

However, Todd being Todd, he had to temper that excitement immediately. He talked about how Bethesda loves “overlapping” development. Basically, they have really long pre-production phases to make sure they actually feel good about the game before they go full throttle.

“It’s a process,” Howard said, admitting that even the team wishes it went a lot faster. But they aren’t trying to rush it just to hit a quarterly earning report. They want to get it right. Honestly, as much as I want to play this game before I retire, I respect that. We’ve all played games that were rushed out the door, and nobody wants a bug-filled mess that crashes every time you try to cast a fireball.

The “Turkey in the Oven” Metaphor

Here is where it gets a little funny. Emil Pagliarulo, the studio design director, decided to get culinary with his explanation of the delay. He basically compared game development to cooking a Thanksgiving dinner.

His logic is pretty sound: Do you want a raw turkey that gives everyone food poisoning, or do you want to wait until it’s golden, delicious, and perfectly cooked? He even pointed to the delays surrounding GTA 6 as a smart move. When you are making something that big, deadlines are kind of secondary to quality.

“What do fans really want?” Emil asked. He’s betting that we’d rather wait for a “delicious” game than play a “turkey” that came out of the oven two hours early.

And yeah, he’s right. But man, does that oven smell good, and we are starving out here.

The Tech is “Dope”

I love when high-level developers use regular human language. Angela Browder, the studio director, didn’t give us technical specs or talk about polygon counts. She just straight up said the technology they are using is “dope.”

She talked about the “endless set of possibilities” that the new tech is opening up, mentioning how exciting it is to see how far the industry has come. When a developer starts laughing and just repeating “It’s dope,” that is usually a good sign. It means they are actually having fun making the thing, rather than crunching in a basement somewhere.

Todd’s Dream of a “Shadowdrop”

This is the part that made my ears perk up. In a separate conversation with GQ, Todd admitted that the gap between games has been way too long. He knows it. We know it. He blamed part of it on Starfield, calling it a necessary “creative reset” for the studio. They needed to do something different before diving back into high fantasy.

But then he started talking about how he wishes he could release games.

Todd’s “perfect version” of a launch isn’t a two-year hype cycle with teasers, trailers, and countdowns. His dream scenario is to just say nothing and then—boom—the game is available. He mentioned a “shadowdrop” (referencing an Oblivion Remastered drop as a test run for this strategy) as something that worked out well.

“I like to just announce stuff and release it,” he said.

Imagine that. Imagine waking up on a random Tuesday, checking Twitter (or whatever we are calling it in the future), and seeing “The Elder Scrolls 6 is out now.” The internet would probably break. It won’t happen that way—marketing departments exist for a reason—but it’s nice to know Todd hates the long wait just as much as we do.

The Desperation is Real

You want to know how thirsty the fanbase is? We are currently analyzing Santa Claus videos for clues.

I’m serious. A while back, there was a live-action Skyrim trailer, and fans noticed that one of Santa’s elves had a speech level of 27. Immediately, the forums lit up with theories that this confirmed a 2027 release date.

That is where we are at, folks. We are analyzing the stats of imaginary elves to figure out when we can slay dragons again.

It makes sense, though. Skyrim came out in 2011. The sequel was announced in 2018. We are now sitting in a timeline where the announcement itself is older than Skyrim was when the announcement happened. It’s a time loop of sadness.

A Nice Touch for the Fans

Before we wrap this up, there is one genuinely sweet piece of news confirmed for the game. The Elder Scrolls 6 will feature a character designed in memory of a fan who passed away. This came about after a massive charity campaign that raised over $85,000 for Make-A-Wish.

It’s a reminder that despite the memes, the delays, and the “it just works” jokes, this community does cool stuff. Seeing that tribute in-game is going to be a special moment for a lot of people.

So, When Do We Play?

If you skipped to the bottom looking for a date: I’m sorry.

We don’t know. Todd doesn’t know (or he isn’t telling). The turkey is still in the oven. The elves are still leveling up their speech. But at least we know the majority of Bethesda is sitting at their desks, right now, building the world we’re going to spend the next decade living in.

I’m preaching patience, just like Todd. Mostly because I don’t have a choice. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go install Skyrim for the 400th time. See you in Tamriel.

• Tags:
• Skyrim
• Development Update