Information-Starved The Elder Scrolls 6 Fans Use Official Create-a-Character Competition to Come Up With a Release Date

The Elder Scrolls VI fanbase, much like their Grand Theft Auto VI counterparts, is currently experiencing a severe information drought. This lack of concrete news has predictably led to rampant speculation regarding the game's release date, fueled primarily by a recent official character creation competition.

Bethesda recently announced their next Make-A-Wish project: a chance to collaborate with Bethesda Game Studios to design an NPC for The Elder Scrolls VI. Proceeds from the auction will directly benefit Make-A-Wish, supporting children battling life-threatening illnesses. While a commendable initiative, this announcement has ignited a firestorm of speculation within the Elder Scrolls community.

Fans are drawing parallels between this Make-A-Wish project and a similar initiative Bethesda ran for Starfield. The theory? The timing of these announcements might correlate to the game's development stage and, consequently, its release date.

Reddit user "FartingSlowly" noted that Bethesda's Starfield character creation contest was published approximately two and a half years before the game's September 2023 release. Extrapolating this, they predict an Elder Scrolls VI release date of September 27, 2027. However, they readily acknowledge the tenuous nature of this prediction.

This speculation has been met with considerable skepticism. Some point out that Starfield's Make-A-Wish competition was announced closer to its original November 11, 2022, release date, suggesting a potential November 2026 release for Elder Scrolls VI instead.

It's been a considerable wait since Bethesda's January 2018 announcement of The Elder Scrolls VI. This announcement is now as old as Skyrim was when it was made. Bethesda confirmed the game entered "early development" in August 2023, with "early builds" available by March 2024. Even Bethesda's Todd Howard acknowledged the lengthy development time.

Initial predictions placed the release in 2028 or later, potentially coinciding with the next generation of consoles. Should this timeline hold, the game would launch a remarkable 17 years after Skyrim. Until then, you can find more information in our comprehensive overview: Everything we know about The Elder Scrolls 6.