Elder Scrolls 6 Fans Use Character Creation Contest to Guess Release Date

Fans of The Elder Scrolls 6 are in a similar boat to those eagerly awaiting Grand Theft Auto 6—both communities are hungry for any scraps of information. With little more than a character creation competition announced by Bethesda to go on, speculation about the game's release date is rampant.

This week, Bethesda unveiled their latest collaboration with Make-A-Wish, offering fans a chance to bid on an opportunity to create a character that will appear as an NPC in The Elder Scrolls 6. "For the last several years, we have been fortunate to partner with Make-A-Wish to fulfill wishes, support their local events, and provide items and experiences, all to benefit children battling life-threatening illnesses," Bethesda stated. "This year, for their Silent Auction, we are offering one winner the chance to work with Bethesda Game Studios to design a character for The Elder Scrolls 6. All proceeds from the auction will directly support Make-A-Wish."

While this initiative is commendable and supports a noble cause, for The Elder Scrolls 6 enthusiasts, it's also a clue to the game's development stage. The community has drawn parallels with a similar Make-A-Wish project for Starfield, attempting to gauge where The Elder Scrolls 6 might be in its development cycle and, consequently, its potential release date.

A Reddit user, creatively named 'FartingSlowly,' noted that the Starfield Make-A-Wish character creation announcement came two-and-a-half years before the game's release in September 2023. From this, they've speculated that The Elder Scrolls 6 could hit the shelves on September 27, 2027. "This isn't a reliable metric for predicting a release date," FartingSlowly conceded. "Don't take it too seriously. But at least it's based on something tangible from Bethesda, rather than baseless speculation."

As expected, many within the fanbase have questioned the validity of this release date. Some have suggested that, considering the Starfield competition was announced when the game was slated for November 11, 2022, The Elder Scrolls 6 might see a November 2026 release.

It's been a long wait since The Elder Scrolls 6 was first announced on June 10, 2018. By January of this year, the announcement had aged as much as Skyrim had when The Elder Scrolls 6 was revealed. Bethesda confirmed in August 2023 that the game had entered "early development," and by March 2024, "early builds" were available. The six-year anniversary of the announcement came and went in June last year, prompting even Bethesda's development chief, Todd Howard, to remark, "oh wow, that has been a while."

The Elder Scrolls 6 is expected to launch no earlier than 2028, likely on the next generation of consoles and PC. If it does release then, it will be a staggering 17 years after Skyrim. While we continue to await further news, you can explore Everything we know about The Elder Scrolls 6.