Bethesda Jumped the Gun: Elder Scrolls 6 Not Arriving Until 2028 or Later, Insider Says

Skyrim turned 12, we all modded it into a completely different game, and Bethesda teased The Elder Scrolls 6 back in 2018 like it was right around the corner. Cut to now: the sequel feels both miles away and weirdly close. The latest chatter says we are not touching this thing until the end of the decade. Here is what people are saying, and what Bethesda actually said.

The new rumor: 2028 at the earliest, 2029 more likely

Reece 'Kiwi Talkz' Reilly lit up fans on December 17, 2025, claiming on X that Elder Scrolls 6 will not land before 2028, and 2029 is the safer bet. His reasoning: Bethesda will not even float a window because that 2018 teaser was way too early and set expectations they cannot manage with a date. He also compared the situation to Metroid Prime 4, which went quiet for years and then got rebuilt from scratch. Different game, different studio, same lesson: announcing early can haunt a project.

Reilly added that the game will sell no matter what but could be divisive and may not be a critical darling. That take got some pushback and some agreement. A few fans argued that after a decade of Skyrim mods, people might be expecting a version of Elder Scrolls that never actually existed. Others said the divisiveness is baked in now: after this long, even a great game gets picked apart.

What Bethesda actually said this week

On December 16, 2025, Game Informer published an interview with Bethesda Game Studios leadership. Studio director Angela Browder sounded genuinely excited about returning to Elder Scrolls, and emphasized how much the tech has evolved since Skyrim. No dates, no windows — just a lot of talk about what modern hardware opens up that was not possible a decade ago.

Todd Howard confirmed most of the studio is now on Elder Scrolls 6, noting this is normal for them — they overlap projects. He said progress is steady, even if it looks slow from the outside, and stressed that players want a finished game, not one shoved out to meet a calendar.

That all lines up with his November 2025 GQ interview, where he said he regrets announcing so early and made it clear the wait is intentional after the Fallout 4, Fallout 76, and Starfield run. The team wanted distance so TES6 would not just feel like a minor upgrade.

'It is still a long way off' — and the point of the long runway is making sure this is not just a 'plus one' to Skyrim.

The 2018 teaser shadow

This is the part that always gets messy. That single logo teaser in 2018 has hung over the project for seven years and counting. In that time, a lot of us rebuilt Skyrim into custom dreams with mods. So whatever Bethesda ships next will be judged against a decade of personal headcanon and upgrade wishlists. If it is different, people will say it lost the magic. If it is familiar, people will say it is not ambitious enough. That is the trap of announcing too early.

Where things stand, at a glance

• 2018: Elder Scrolls 6 gets a logo teaser. No title, no date.
• November 2025 (GQ): Todd Howard says the game is 'still a long way off,' regrets the early reveal, and frames the delay as a creative reset after Fallout 4, Fallout 76, and Starfield so TES6 is not just a 'plus one.'
• December 16, 2025 (Game Informer): Angela Browder talks tech leaps since Skyrim; Howard says most of BGS is now on TES6, progress is steady, and the studio typically overlaps projects. Still no timeline.
• December 17, 2025: Reece 'Kiwi Talkz' Reilly claims we will not see TES6 before 2028, and 2029 is likely, arguing Bethesda avoids dates after the too-early 2018 reveal. He predicts strong sales but a divided reception.

Bottom line

If you are circling a calendar, aim late decade. Bethesda is not going to slap a date on this anytime soon, and honestly, they should not. The studio says the majority of the team is on it and progress is steady. The rumor says 2028 or 2029. Both things can be true.

In the meantime, maybe uninstall a few Skyrim mods so your expectations have a fighting chance.