TES6 The Elder Scrolls VI timeline — every announcement from 2016 to 2026
Eight years between a teaser and a title. Every public milestone in the making of The Elder Scrolls VI, in order.
Updated 2026-11-03
The road to The Elder Scrolls VI: Sentinel has been unusually public — and unusually long. Here’s every confirmed milestone.
2016
June — Todd Howard confirms Bethesda Game Studios intends to make a new Elder Scrolls, while stressing it is a long way off.
2018
June 10 — The Elder Scrolls VI is formally announced at the end of Bethesda’s E3 showcase with a short teaser: aerial shots of a rugged coastal landscape ending on the logo. Howard says the game is in pre-production and will follow Starfield.
2019
Bethesda confirms Shirley Curry — the “Skyrim Grandma” — will appear as an NPC after a fan petition.
2020–2021
September 2020 — Microsoft agrees to acquire ZeniMax Media for US$7.5 billion; the deal completes in March 2021, putting The Elder Scrolls under Xbox ownership. In 2021, Howard says TES6 is in the design phase.
2023
June — Phil Spencer testifies at the FTC v. Microsoft hearing that the game is “five plus years away,” and leaked internal documents surface projecting 2026 at the earliest for Windows and Xbox.
August — Howard describes the goal as “the ultimate fantasy-world simulator”; the game moves into full production as Starfield’s development wraps (Starfield launched in September 2023).
2024
March 25 — For the series’ 30th anniversary, Bethesda says early builds of TES6 are being played.
2025
November — In a GQ interview, Howard calls TES6 the studio’s primary priority.
2026
- February 18 — On Kinda Funny Games, Howard describes TES6 as a “classic Bethesda” RPG in the vein of Oblivion and Skyrim, running on Creation Engine 3.
- July 17 — In a note from Bethesda Game Studios, the studio confirms TES6 and Fallout 5 are built on Creation Engine 3, calls TES6 its primary development focus, and says the team is “where we planned to be” and “playing it every day.”
- July — IGN reports more than 50 Bethesda Game Studios staff were laid off in Xbox restructuring. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reports the game is at least two years away — no earlier than 2028.
- August — Xbox CEO Asha Sharma teases the game after seeing it played, posting the subtitle as eight redacted asterisks; Bethesda Game Studios echoes the asterisks.
- October 29 — The Verge reports the subtitle Sentinel and a Hammerfell setting.
- November 3 — The official name reveal: The Elder Scrolls VI: Sentinel, announced by Todd Howard in a video marking 40 years of Bethesda Game Studios.