The Elder Scrolls 6 Is Officially In Early Development, But More Info Is Still Years Away

The good news: The Elder Scrolls VI is no longer in pre-production and has moved into early stages of development. The bad news: More information about the next entry in Bethesda's fantasy RPG series is still years away.

That's according to Bethesda head of publishing Pete Hines, who in an interview with Spanish gaming news site Vandal (and translated by GameSpot) said that currently "everybody in all our studios" are focusing on making Starfield, which releases on September 6 for those who aren't paying to play early, the "best it can be."

However, he made it clear there are some developers currently working on The Elder Scrolls VI, but that fans shouldn't expect to hear news anytime soon about the game anytime soon. He said over time, more information will be revealed and that news about the game won't come until "a few years after" Starfield's launch.

"So no, don't expect to hear anything about The Elder Scrolls VI anytime soon," Hines said. "For now, Starfield is our focus, and it will continue to be our priority for some time until we speak about anything else."

Hines, when asked if The Elder Scrolls VI is still in the concept and pre-production phase, clarified that the game is now in early stages of development. The game was first announced via a teaser trailer in 2018.

"No," Hines said. "It's in development, but it's in early development."

It sounds like players anticipating more information about the next single-player adventure set in Tamriel will simply have to wait to learn more, but here's everything we know about The Elder Scrolls VI so far. In the meantime, The Elder Scrolls Online still regularly receives expansions, with its latest, Necrom, having released earlier this summer. In a FTC hearing as part of Microsoft's ongoing acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said The Elder Scrolls VI is still "five-plus years away" and that he's not even sure what platforms the game might ship on.

Thankfully, there should be plenty of RPG goodness in Starfield to tide fans over. Bethesda's space RPG is currently available to preload on Xbox and Steam. Ahead of launch, more information about the game has been shared, like how Starfield almost had a voiced protagonist and how its story revolves around religion and the nature of the universe. A recent leaker responsible for sharing the first 45 minutes of Starfield ahead of launch now faces felony theft charges.

In another recent interview, Hines said Starfield "doesn't really get going" until the main quest is finished, and defended Starfield's minimalist start screen on social media when a former Blizzard developer claimed the screen demonstrated a lack of passion on the part of Bethesda developers.