So Todd Howard has once again emerged from his cryogenic chamber to inform the masses that The Elder Scrolls VI is still, shockingly, a long way off. In other news, water is wet, and Skyrim is still being ported to new hardware.
Apparently, TES VI is now his “everyday thing.” Which is a nice way of saying yes, we open the project file daily to look at it and sigh before going back to fixing Starfield’s loading screens.
🧠“Still a long way off” — the Bethesda mantra
Todd Howard’s interviews have basically turned into performance art at this point. Every few years, he steps onto a stage (or into a GQ interview), sprinkles some vague hope about “progress,” and disappears again like some corporate Gandalf.
“Still a long way off,” he says — which, translated from Bethesda-speak, means:
We’ve made a menu screen, a map placeholder, and a few rocks. Please clap.
Fans have been waiting since 2011. Babies born when Skyrim released are now learning algebra, and TES VI is still just a PowerPoint deck and a prayer.
🧩 The “Everyday Thing”
Howard says TES VI is “an everyday thing.”
Translation: every day someone at Bethesda probably opens a file labeled “TES6_Main_Build_FINAL_v3_REAL_THIS_TIME_DO_NOT_TOUCH.zip,” stares at it for five minutes, then goes back to fixing Fallout 76 bugs.
It’s heartwarming, really. Development is “everyday” in the same way that thinking about going to the gym is “fitness.”
🕰️ The Timeline (a.k.a. geological epoch)
Realistically, we’re looking at a 2027-2030 release window, if humanity still exists by then and Microsoft hasn’t turned the entire franchise into an Xbox Game Pass metaverse experience.
Bethesda seems to be taking the “quality over speed” approach — though it’s unclear if that’s an intentional philosophy or just a convenient excuse for glacial progress.
At this rate, The Elder Scrolls VI might launch around the same time as the PlayStation 7 and the actual colonization of Mars. Bethesda could call it The Elder Scrolls VI: Tamriel Colonies and pretend it was all planned.
💼 Managing Expectations (and Stockholders)
Todd keeps assuring fans to be “patient” and “not anxious.”
Which is corporate PR for: We have nothing to show you, but please keep talking about us on Reddit.
He even floated the idea of a “shadow drop.” Sure, Todd — the guy who announced TES VI seven years too early now wants to surprise-drop it. That’s like a chronic oversharer suddenly deciding to go stealth mode.
🧱 The Technology Question
TES VI is being built on Creation Engine 2 — the same engine that powered Starfield, a game that launched feeling like it was coded on a microwave.
If we’re being honest, by the time TES VI releases, the engine will be “retro.” Which, to be fair, fits Bethesda’s brand perfectly — why innovate when you can mod Skyrim again?
🎮 The Real Strategy
Let’s face it: Bethesda has discovered the infinite money glitch.
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Re-release Skyrim on every platform known to man.
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Announce Elder Scrolls VI once every few years to keep hope alive.
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Milk Fallout in between.
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Profit.
It’s genius, really. Who needs a new game when the old one still sells better than half the new RPGs on Steam?
🧙♂️ The Final Prophecy
By the time The Elder Scrolls VI actually arrives, AI will be generating better open worlds than humans. Todd Howard will be giving interviews through a hologram, saying:
“It just works — in spirit.”
And millions of fans will still buy it, bugs and all, because deep down, we’re all addicted to the dream of one more Bethesda fantasy world — even if it arrives fashionably late to the next century.
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