The Elder Scrolls VI: Speculation Fueled by a Make-A-Wish Campaign

Fans of The Elder Scrolls VI, much like those eagerly awaiting Grand Theft Auto VI, are starved for concrete information. This lack of official news has predictably led to rampant speculation regarding the game's release date, fueled only by a recent Bethesda announcement: a Make-A-Wish character creation competition.

Bethesda's latest Make-A-Wish initiative offers a unique prize: the chance to collaborate with Bethesda Game Studios to design a non-player character (NPC) for The Elder Scrolls VI. All proceeds from the auction directly benefit Make-A-Wish.

While a commendable charitable endeavor, this announcement has ignited a firestorm of speculation within the Elder Scrolls community. Fans are drawing parallels between this campaign and a similar one Bethesda ran for Starfield, attempting to extrapolate The Elder Scrolls VI's development stage and, consequently, its release date.

Reddit user "FartingSlowly" noted that Bethesda's Starfield character creation contest was publicized approximately two and a half years before Starfield's September 2023 launch. Based on this, they predict a September 27, 2027, release for The Elder Scrolls VI. However, they readily acknowledge the tenuous nature of this prediction.

This proposed date has been met with skepticism from other community members. Some point out that Starfield's Make-A-Wish campaign coincided with the game's initially planned November 11, 2022, release, suggesting a potential November 2026 launch for The Elder Scrolls VI instead.

Will a next-gen Xbox be released before Elder Scrolls VI?

No, Xbox Series X and S will remain Microsoft's sole consoles.Yes, and 2026 can't arrive soon enough!AnswerSee Results

It's been a considerable wait since Bethesda's January 2018 announcement of The Elder Scrolls VI. The studio confirmed the game entered "early development" in August 2023, with "early builds" surfacing in March 2024. Even Bethesda's Todd Howard acknowledged the extended development time.

Initial estimates placed the game's release no earlier than 2028, potentially targeting next-generation consoles and PC. Should this timeframe hold, the game would launch an astonishing 17 years after Skyrim. Until official confirmation arrives, speculation continues to reign supreme. For more details, see Everything we know about The Elder Scrolls 6.