The Elder Scrolls 6 Could Shadow Drop If Todd Howard Gets His Way
Forget the months-long hype cycle—Todd Howard wants the next big release to simply appear one day.
Todd Howard is still slow-playing The Elder Scrolls 6, and now he is hinting the next time we hear about it might be the same day we can actually play it. Yes, that would be chaotic. Yes, I kind of respect it.
Where things stand with TES6
Howard has been talking about this game since 2016 without ever pinning down a release window. In a new chat with GQ, he says the wait is still long and he is preaching patience. So nothing imminent, and definitely no calendar date to circle.
A recent Bethesda move might have been the dry run
The way Bethesda handled The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered this spring was... unusual, even by modern marketing standards. After years of rumors, the first official confirmation finally landed on April 21, when Bethesda said it would share initial details in a livestream the next day. Then they just dropped the game during that stream.
- Years of whispers about an Oblivion remaster
- April 21: Bethesda confirms it exists and teases a next-day stream
- Next day: it launches mid-livestream, effectively a shadow drop
Howard now basically calls that strategy a test run and says it worked. He stopped short of saying it was specifically a rehearsal for TES6, but he laid out the playbook he likes: announce and release, with as little dead air as possible.
My perfect version - and I am not saying this is going to happen - is that it is going to be a while and then, one day, the game will just appear.
So what does that mean for you and your F5 key?
In plain English: do not expect a slow drip of trailers and dates. The game is still a ways off, and when it does arrive, it could drop fast. Maybe very fast. If you are an Elder Scrolls fan, you can stand down for now, but be ready for a sudden launch somewhere in the long stretch ahead.
Why the long gap?
Howard has also reflected on the wait since Skyrim. He has said they wanted to try something new with Starfield, and he now admits it has been too long between Elder Scrolls RPGs. Fair enough. That does not make the wait easier, but it at least explains the detour.
Bottom line: TES6 is not close, Bethesda likes the surprise-launch approach after how smoothly Oblivion Remastered landed, and one day this thing might just appear with little warning. Keep expectations low, alerts on, and your backlog healthy.