The Elder Scrolls VI Wiki
Follow Bethesda's next mainline fantasy RPG with verified release updates, platform news, setting clues, trailers, character details, technology, and development milestones.
The Elder Scrolls VI Wiki Hub
Everything we know about The Elder Scrolls VI — release, platforms, setting, gameplay, engine, and lore
The Elder Scrolls VI Release Date
Bethesda has not announced a release date. Follow the game's progression from the 2018 reveal to early playable builds.
Bethesda announced The Elder Scrolls VI after Fallout 76 at E3 2018. Development remained in planning and pre-production while Bethesda Game Studios focused on Starfield, before moving into active production and internal early builds.
The Elder Scrolls VI Is Revealed
Bethesda Game Studios unveiled a short landscape teaser during its E3 2018 showcase. The announcement confirmed the project but did not reveal its setting, platforms, gameplay, or release date.
Planning and Pre-Production
The project remained behind Starfield in Bethesda Game Studios' development schedule. Early work focused on technology, design concepts, world planning, and the systems needed for the next main Elder Scrolls game.
Early Development Begins
Following the completion and launch of Starfield, Bethesda described The Elder Scrolls VI as being in early development. The studio began shifting more development resources toward the project.
Early Builds Are Being Played
Bethesda confirmed that developers were already playing early versions of the game. This marked a transition from planning work toward playable environments, mechanics, and internal prototypes.
Microsoft Court Document Window
Documents published during Microsoft's legal proceedings listed the game as expected in 2026 or later. This was an internal planning range rather than a public Bethesda launch announcement.
No Release Date Announced
Bethesda has not announced a release year, launch day, preorder schedule, or public gameplay showcase. The game remains an active long-term project at Bethesda Game Studios.
The Elder Scrolls VI Platforms
Xbox and PC have appeared in Microsoft's internal planning documents, while Bethesda has not published a final platform list.
The Elder Scrolls VI is being developed under Xbox-owned Bethesda Game Studios. Its long development cycle means final hardware targets may depend on the console generation available near release.
Xbox Series X|S
Included in older Xbox planningExpected Xbox ecosystem release
Microsoft court documents associated the game with Xbox and PC. Bethesda has not released a final store page or console-specific technical specification.
Windows PC
Included in older Xbox planningExpected PC release
Mainline Bethesda Game Studios titles traditionally launch on Windows PC, and Microsoft documentation listed PC alongside Xbox for The Elder Scrolls VI.
Xbox Game Pass
Not individually announcedNo dedicated listing
The game does not yet have a public Game Pass page, release date, subscription tier, or preload information.
PlayStation 5
No platform announcementUndetermined
Bethesda and Xbox have not published a PlayStation 5 version, release schedule, store listing, or exclusivity statement for the finished game.
Next-Generation Xbox
Possible future targetDependent on release timing
The game's long production schedule could place it near a newer Xbox hardware generation, but Bethesda has not named any next-generation console.
Steam
No store page announcedUndetermined storefront support
A Steam release has not been formally listed. Bethesda's recent major PC releases have supported both the Microsoft Store and Steam.
Nintendo Hardware
No announcementUndetermined
No Nintendo version, cloud edition, port, or technical target has been announced.
Cloud Gaming
No announcementUndetermined
Bethesda has not confirmed Xbox Cloud Gaming availability, streaming performance targets, or supported devices.
The Elder Scrolls VI Trailer
The official 2018 announcement teaser remains the primary public video. It reveals a large coastal landscape but contains no characters, combat, interface, or gameplay systems.
Bethesda introduced The Elder Scrolls VI with a brief cinematic flyover at its E3 2018 showcase. The footage established the project's scale and fantasy atmosphere while keeping its province, story, era, and central conflict hidden.
The Elder Scrolls VI – Official Announcement Teaser
June 10, 2018 · Bethesda E3 2018 Showcase
Watch on YouTubeOfficial Announcement Teaser
June 10, 2018 · Bethesda E3 2018 Showcase
- An aerial camera moves across a mountainous coastal landscape.
- The environment includes cliffs, valleys, water, roads, and distant settlements.
- The Elder Scrolls theme accompanies the landscape reveal.
- The final title card confirms The Elder Scrolls VI.
- No playable character, combat system, interface, dialogue, or quest footage appears.
Gameplay Reveal
Not released · Future Bethesda showcase
- No official gameplay demonstration has been published.
- Character creation, exploration, combat, magic, dialogue, and quest systems have not been shown.
- Bethesda has not announced a date for the first gameplay presentation.
Developer Deep Dive
Not released · Future developer presentation
- No dedicated development documentary has been released.
- Bethesda has not publicly demonstrated the game's world-building tools or Creation Engine technology.
- Future developer videos may cover the setting, factions, exploration systems, and technical design.
Launch Trailer
Not released · Future launch campaign
- No launch trailer or release campaign is available.
- Preorders, editions, bonuses, and launch platforms have not been presented in video form.
- This entry will follow the official release marketing schedule.
The Elder Scrolls VI Setting and Map
Bethesda has not named the game's province, but the announcement teaser has produced strong Hammerfell, High Rock, and Iliac Bay theories.
The Elder Scrolls VI will return to Tamriel, the continent used by the main numbered Elder Scrolls games. Its exact province remains unrevealed, leaving the teaser landscape as the main source for comparing possible locations.
Unnamed region of Tamriel
Unknown
- The teaser shows a large mountainous landmass beside a substantial body of water.
- Cliffs, valleys, paths, ruins, and distant settlements are visible.
- The landscape contains both dry rocky areas and greener elevated terrain.
- No readable map, province name, city name, flag, or faction symbol appears.
The footage confirms a large coastal fantasy region but does not identify its province.
Hammerfell
A province in western Tamriel
- Hammerfell contains dry mountains, deserts, rocky coastlines, and major port settlements.
- Its western and northern landscapes can resemble the rugged terrain shown in the teaser.
- The province is the homeland of the Redguards.
- Important locations include Sentinel, Hegathe, Taneth, Rihad, Dragonstar, and the Alik'r Desert.
Hammerfell is the most prominent single-province theory connected to the teaser's dry coastal geography.
High Rock
A province in northwestern Tamriel
- High Rock is known for steep mountains, green valleys, castles, and fragmented coastal kingdoms.
- The province is the homeland of the Bretons.
- Its major regions include Daggerfall, Wayrest, Evermore, Northpoint, and the Wrothgarian Mountains.
- The teaser's cliffs and distant fortified locations match parts of High Rock's established geography.
High Rock remains a major theory because of the teaser's mountainous coastline and medieval-looking settlements.
Iliac Bay
Hammerfell and High Rock
- The Iliac Bay separates southern High Rock from northern Hammerfell.
- A regional map could include Breton kingdoms, Redguard cities, islands, ports, mountains, and desert areas.
- The region previously served as the central setting of The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall.
- A two-province structure would support naval travel and strong political conflict between neighboring cultures.
The Iliac Bay theory combines the strongest Hammerfell and High Rock interpretations into one connected game world.
Multiple Tamriel Provinces
Several connected regions
- Bethesda's newer technology supports larger environments and denser exploration spaces.
- A border-spanning story could connect Hammerfell, High Rock, Orsinium, and nearby islands.
- The announcement teaser does not establish the final boundaries of the playable map.
A multi-region map could extend beyond one province, especially around the Iliac Bay and western Tamriel.
All of Tamriel
The entire continent
- No official trailer or statement presents every Tamriel province as playable.
- The teaser displays only one continuous landscape.
- No complete continental map, travel system, or province list has been shown.
The entire continent has not been announced as the playable map for The Elder Scrolls VI.
The Elder Scrolls VI Gameplay
Explore the confirmed direction of Bethesda's next single-player fantasy RPG and the core systems inherited from earlier Elder Scrolls games.
The Elder Scrolls VI returns to Tamriel as Bethesda Game Studios' next major open-world role-playing game. Detailed mechanics have not been publicly demonstrated, but exploration, character freedom, quests, combat, magic, and environmental storytelling remain central to the series.
Exploration
A New Open World in Tamriel
Players will explore another large region of Tamriel filled with wilderness, settlements, ruins, dungeons, and environmental stories. Bethesda has described the game as the next chapter in The Elder Scrolls series.
Combat
First-Person and Third-Person Combat
The series traditionally supports melee weapons, bows, shields, stealth attacks, and offensive magic from first-person or third-person viewpoints. Skyrim's blocking, dual-wielding, and equipment-based combat provide the clearest foundation for the next game.
Magic
Spells, Enchanting, and Magical Builds
Destruction, Restoration, Conjuration, Illusion, and Alteration are the main modern spell schools. Enchanting, magical artifacts, racial abilities, and specialized mage builds are established parts of Elder Scrolls character progression.
Quests
Main Story, Factions, and Side Adventures
The game is being designed as a full single-player role-playing experience. The Elder Scrolls structure normally combines a central conflict with faction questlines, town stories, Daedric quests, dungeon objectives, and smaller encounters discovered while exploring.
Character Progression
Build a Character Through Skills
Previous games improve skills through use and connect those skills to levels, attributes, or perks. Players can traditionally combine warrior, mage, thief, assassin, archer, alchemist, and hybrid playstyles without selecting a permanently locked class.
Dialogue and Choice
Conversations, Persuasion, and Player Decisions
Dialogue is expected to support quest discovery, persuasion, intimidation, bribery, and faction interactions. Earlier games also allow players to choose quest outcomes, support competing groups, and change how individual characters respond.
Settlements
Cities, Villages, Homes, and Local Economies
Tamriel's settlements traditionally contain shops, inns, guild halls, temples, homes, guards, and local quest networks. Property ownership, crafting stations, merchants, crime systems, and regional politics are established open-world features.
Emergent Systems
Dynamic Encounters and Environmental Interaction
Bethesda worlds combine scheduled NPC behavior, wildlife, physics objects, random encounters, crime responses, and unscripted conflicts. These systems allow quests and exploration events to overlap instead of functioning as isolated activities.
The Elder Scrolls VI Development Timeline
Follow the game's progress from its 2018 announcement through pre-production, early builds, and active development.
Bethesda announced The Elder Scrolls VI years before full production because Starfield was the studio's immediate priority. Development moved forward through engine preparation, pre-production, and playable internal builds before becoming Bethesda Game Studios' next major project.
The Elder Scrolls VI Is Revealed
Bethesda announced the game during its E3 2018 showcase with a short landscape teaser. The reveal confirmed that a sixth main Elder Scrolls game was planned after Starfield.
Concept and Technology Planning
The project remained in an early planning stage while Bethesda concentrated its main production resources on Starfield. World concepts, technology requirements, and the game's long-term creative direction were developed during this period.
Creation Engine 2 Becomes the Technical Baseline
Starfield became Bethesda's first game built on Creation Engine 2. Its renderer, animation pipeline, procedural tools, and updated development systems created the technical foundation available to the Elder Scrolls VI team.
Development Expands After Starfield
As Starfield approached release, Bethesda began shifting more developers and production attention toward The Elder Scrolls VI. The project moved beyond its long pre-production period into early development.
Bethesda Mentions Early Internal Builds
In a studio message celebrating The Elder Scrolls anniversary, Bethesda said developers were returning to Tamriel and playing early builds of the new game.
World and Gameplay Systems Take Shape
Production focused on building the playable world, core role-playing systems, quests, technology, and content pipelines required for Bethesda's next large single-player release.
Bethesda Discusses Continued Progress
Bethesda provided another development update as work continued on the game. The project remained positioned as the studio's next major fantasy role-playing game after Starfield.
Bethesda Builds the Next Version of Tamriel
The development team is working across world design, gameplay, quests, art, animation, audio, and engine technology. No public gameplay demonstration or final launch date has been released.
The Elder Scrolls VI Creation Engine 3
Compare Bethesda's older engine systems, Starfield's Creation Engine 2 upgrades, and the technology requirements of the next Elder Scrolls world.
The Elder Scrolls VI is being developed after Bethesda's major Creation Engine overhaul for Starfield. Bethesda has not published a formal Creation Engine 3 specification, but the next engine iteration can build on Creation Engine 2 while focusing on denser landscapes, cities, characters, combat, and fantasy-world simulation.
Engine Foundation
Earlier Elder Scrolls Games
Oblivion used Gamebryo technology, while Skyrim and Fallout 4 used generations of Bethesda's original Creation Engine.
Starfield (Creation Engine 2)
Starfield introduced Creation Engine 2 with major changes to rendering, animation, tools, and large-scale world production.
The Elder Scrolls VI Direction
A further-developed engine branch designed around a dense fantasy province, handcrafted quests, and long-term content support.
World Rendering
Earlier Elder Scrolls Games
Older games used region cells, limited distant detail, and simpler material, shadow, and lighting systems.
Starfield (Creation Engine 2)
Creation Engine 2 added improved materials, lighting, volumetric effects, terrain rendering, and more detailed environments.
The Elder Scrolls VI Direction
Large natural landscapes, detailed cities, stronger weather effects, improved water, longer sightlines, and richer vegetation.
Loading and Streaming
Earlier Elder Scrolls Games
Cities, buildings, caves, and large regions frequently used separate loading transitions.
Starfield (Creation Engine 2)
Faster storage and updated streaming support larger environments, although many ships, interiors, and locations remain separated.
The Elder Scrolls VI Direction
Faster regional streaming and smoother movement between wilderness, settlements, interiors, and underground spaces.
Character Animation
Earlier Elder Scrolls Games
Skyrim used a legacy animation system for movement, melee attacks, conversations, and creature behavior.
Starfield (Creation Engine 2)
Starfield expanded facial animation, locomotion, weapon handling, and character interaction systems.
The Elder Scrolls VI Direction
More responsive melee combat, improved spell casting, better creature movement, and more expressive dialogue scenes.
Artificial Intelligence
Earlier Elder Scrolls Games
Radiant AI gave NPCs schedules, homes, jobs, and basic reactions to crimes or nearby events.
Starfield (Creation Engine 2)
NPCs support combat roles, crew assignments, settlement activity, and large numbers of quest interactions.
The Elder Scrolls VI Direction
Deeper daily routines, faction relationships, dynamic encounters, coordinated combat, and stronger reactions to player reputation.
Physics and Interaction
Earlier Elder Scrolls Games
Loose objects, traps, bodies, weapons, and environmental items could react through physics simulation.
Starfield (Creation Engine 2)
The engine supports large quantities of movable objects, ship interiors, low-gravity movement, and zero-gravity combat.
The Elder Scrolls VI Direction
Improved environmental interaction for weapons, spells, traps, doors, clutter, destructible objects, and dungeon mechanisms.
World-Building Tools
Earlier Elder Scrolls Games
Bethesda assembled provinces from handcrafted exterior cells, dungeons, towns, and scripted quest locations.
Starfield (Creation Engine 2)
Procedural terrain and location-placement tools support a very large universe alongside handcrafted cities and quests.
The Elder Scrolls VI Direction
Procedural tools can establish terrain and natural detail while developers concentrate handcrafted work on settlements, dungeons, and story locations.
Mod Support
Earlier Elder Scrolls Games
The Creation Kit and plugin system enabled new quests, locations, items, characters, and total conversions.
Starfield (Creation Engine 2)
Creation Kit 2 supports official mod creation and Bethesda's modern content pipeline.
The Elder Scrolls VI Direction
A data-driven world structure suited to long-term community mods, custom quests, new regions, equipment, and gameplay overhauls.
The Elder Scrolls VI Story and Lore
Review the established history of Tamriel, major regional conflicts, and the lore connected to the game's possible setting.
Bethesda has confirmed that The Elder Scrolls VI will return players to Tamriel, but it has not published the protagonist, central conflict, or exact historical date. Hammerfell and High Rock remain the main setting theories because of the reveal trailer's landscape and the political storylines established around the Iliac Bay region.
The game is the sixth main entry in The Elder Scrolls series and takes place somewhere in Tamriel.
- Bethesda revealed a mountainous coastal landscape in the announcement teaser.
- The playable character, main antagonist, and central quest have not been introduced.
- The exact province and historical year have not been published.
- The story follows the events of the earlier main Elder Scrolls games within the same shared universe.
Latest Updates
Discover the newest guides, tips, and content
Buying Options for The Elder Scrolls VI
A comprehensive guide to the buying options available for The Elder Scrolls VI, including pre-order bonuses, release date, and platform-specific details.
The Elder Scrolls 6 Xbox Showcase: Trailer & News Analysis
Analyze the latest rumors, engine upgrades, and setting predictions for The Elder Scrolls 6 following the recent Xbox Games Showcase updates.
The Elder Scrolls VI Platforms: Current Development Status & Hardware Outlook
Explore the latest updates on The Elder Scrolls VI platforms, development milestones, and what to expect from Bethesda's upcoming flagship RPG.
The Elder Scrolls 6 Rumored for Late 2027: Release Window & Leaks
Explore the latest leaks regarding The Elder Scrolls 6 rumored for late 2027, including Xbox exclusivity, development status, and internal Bethesda shifts.
The Elder Scrolls 6 AI Features: 2026 Development Analysis & NPC Tech
Explore the latest insights into The Elder Scrolls 6 AI features, Creation Engine 2 enhancements, and how Bethesda is integrating advanced NPC technology.
the elder scrolls 6 first teaser: Analysis of Map Clues
the elder scrolls 6 features: 2026 Gameplay & RPG Breakdown
Discover the latest the elder scrolls 6 features, including Creation Engine 3 details, Hammerfell setting rumors, and deep RPG mechanic overhauls.
The Elder Scrolls 6 High Rock: Setting Analysis & Lore Predictions
Explore the geography, factions, and ancient mysteries of High Rock as a primary setting for The Elder Scrolls 6 in our 2026 comprehensive guide.
The Elder Scrolls 6 Region: Hammerfell Evidence & Setting Analysis
An in-depth analysis of the evidence pointing to Hammerfell as the primary setting for The Elder Scrolls 6, featuring map breakdowns and community leaks.
The Elder Scrolls 6 First Trailer: Official Teaser & Analysis
A detailed analysis of the Elder Scrolls 6 first trailer, exploring geographic clues, engine details, and Hammerfell location theories.
The Elder Scrolls 6 Setting: Top Theories & Map Analysis
An in-depth analysis of the Elder Scrolls 6 setting, exploring Hammerfell theories, official Bethesda teasers, lore implications, and production updates.
The Elder Scrolls 6 Release Date: 2026 Roadmap & Launch Window Analysis
Explore the latest updates on The Elder Scrolls 6 release date, Bethesda's development roadmap, Hammerfell setting leaks, and engine upgrades.