The Elder Scrolls 6 delay could lock millions out of next Bethesda game as Xbox tightens development

At first, the game taking so long was somewhat amusing, but given recent events at Xbox it’s starting to look like The Elder Scrolls VI is in development hell.

What’s worse is the game is reportedly teetering on the edge of a delay which could lock millions of gamers out of a game they’ve waited nearly a decade for.

Xbox is currently undergoing one of its biggest reshuffles ever as the CEO Asha Sharma plans to cut out several layers of management. Layoffs throughout the business and its studios have been rife; some studios have been let go entirely, but are now running independently.

Despite delivering some of the most memorable and beloved RPGs ever made, even Bethesda hasn’t been immune to this bold, new business strategy.

Bethesda in shambles as Xbox takes away Fallout and puts The Elder Scrolls 6 at risk

After cancelling Obsidian Entertainment’s next game, Avowed 2, Xbox now has the studio working on a brand-new Fallout game.

Bethesda, on the other hand, is supposedly being encouraged to speed up development on The Elder Scrolls VI, which is probably the last thing the developers want to do after saying goodbye to so many of their colleagues.

Anonymous developers from Bethesda told IGN the layoffs will have a “substantial and cascading effect” on both team morale and the next Elder Scrolls game.

“We were already running a tight ship and are worried about this delaying the game (though a final release date was not yet chosen as far as we know)."

The Elder Scrolls VI is now expected to launch in the next one to two years, but this drastic reshuffle from Xbox could throw a spanner into the works.

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What’s most concerning is what this means for PlayStation players. Under Phil Spencer’s leadership, Xbox was keen to get as many of its games on other platforms as possible, and it was said repeatedly that The Elder Scrolls VI will launch on PlayStation 5 at the same time as Xbox Series X/S

Asha Sharma has a different mindset in that regard, as she’s been pushing for more Xbox-exclusives like Gears of War: E-Day.

With more in the oven, the decision to make The Elder Scrolls VI an Xbox and PC-exclusive remains high, and it might even trickle into the next generation of consoles too…

We all know that Xbox is silently working away on its mysterious Project Helix. The next-gen console will be a hybrid system that’ll act as a PC.

The radio silence on The Elder Scrolls VI has us wondering if Xbox is purposefully pushing the game back so it can be a launch title for the next Xbox console. It could even be an exclusive depending on when development on the game actually began.

We still don’t know when The Elder Scrolls VI is meant to release, but we’re sure that it’ll cause even more controversy when it does, especially knowing what it took to finally get our hands on it.