Short: Bethesda has provided virtually no significant information about The Elder Scrolls VI since its official announcement more than eight years ago. If recent reports are to be believed, that could soon change. While the game’s release date is still unclear, the upcoming anniversary of the wildly popular predecessor could give parent company Microsoft the opportunity to renew enthusiasm for their gaming business.
Sources familiar with Bethesda’s inner workings have informed The Verge that The Elder Scrolls VI will be subtitled “Sentinel” and that Microsoft will reveal the title next month. The game could still be years away and Microsoft is reportedly considering an Xbox-exclusive release.
The upcoming open-world role-playing game will revolve around Hammerfell, a region of the Elder Scrolls universe that appears in The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard and The Elder Scrolls Online, but has not been featured in a mainline title since the release of The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall in 1996. Sentinel is a major city in Hammerfell and the capital of the Kingdom of Sentinel. The area is home to the Redgarruds, one of several races appearing throughout the series.
An announcement from Microsoft would likely come on November 11th, the 15th anniversary of the previous entry, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Skyrim is one of the best-selling RPGs of all time and maintains one of the largest modding communities in the industry.
It remains unclear whether Microsoft might try to use the succession to boost declining Xbox sales or also release it on PlayStation, as Bethesda did with previous titles before Microsoft acquired the studio. A reveal next month, likely without gameplay footage, could also be seen as an attempt to show proof of life amid ongoing layoffs affecting thousands of Microsoft employees.
Asha Sharma, Xbox’s new CEO, recently teased The Elder Scrolls VI by revealing that the subtitle consists of eight letters. Sentinel immediately became one of the most widely guessed titles and fans have long speculated that the next game would feature Hammerfell.
Bethesda technically announced The Elder Scrolls VI at E3 2018, but only showed the title and a brief landscape shot. Since then, studio head Todd Howard has revealed scant details.
Earlier this year, he said the game would be more similar to its predecessor than the studio’s other recent games like Fallout 76 and Starfield. Starfield, whose launch drew mixed reactions, provided an educational experience, and Bethesda has since optimized its production pipeline on Creation Engine 3, which will power Elder Scrolls VI.
