The Elder Scrolls 6 release date revelation leaves fans horrified

I think it's probably fair to say that The Elder Scrolls VI is very nearly the most anticipated video game sequel of all-time, second only to GTA VI.

The long, long-awaited follow-up to Skyrim is currently in development, but we really don't know much beyond that. We can assume The Elder Scrolls VI is going to be a while yet, of course, especially as Bethesda continues to focus on Starfield. But now some fans are starting to have some incredibly uncomfortable realisations in regards to The Elder Scrolls VI's release date.

Official documents have previously suggested we could be looking at a 2026 release for The Elder Scrolls VI, though I'd argue that seems mighty optimistic for an RPG on the level of an Elder Scrolls game. Whichever way you slice it, we're still years away from jumping back into Tamriel, and the horror is only just starting to set in for some fans.

Over on Reddit, one user pointed out a sobering fact: Morrowind (2002) is now closer to Skyrim (2011) than Skyrim is to The Elder Scrolls VI. And when you consider there was another whole-ass game in between Morrowind and Skyrim, you start to get a sense of just how lengthy modern video game development times have gotten. Heck, given the rumours the next-gen PlayStation and Xbox consoles are coming in 2027, it's not even beyond the realms of possibility that The Elder Scrolls VI will be a next-gen game.

"How could this even happen?" one Redditor asked. "If you told me in 2011 that the next TES game wouldn't come out for another 14-15 years, I'd assume Bethesda was shut down or there was a literal world war or something."

It's worth remembering, of course, that Bethesda has hardly been sat twiddling its thumbs since Skyrim. In the last decade we've had Fallout 4, Fallout 76, and Starfield - all large, ambitious RPGs. Except maybe Fallout 76, although even that is a much better game now.