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

Fans of The Elder Scrolls 6, much like those eagerly awaiting Grand Theft Auto 6, are often left hungry for any scraps of information. It's no wonder, then, that the community has jumped into speculative mode based on the latest announcement from Bethesda—a character creation competition for The Elder Scrolls 6 in collaboration with Make-A-Wish.

Bethesda recently unveiled their next charitable endeavor with Make-A-Wish, offering an auction where the winner gets to collaborate with Bethesda Game Studios to design an NPC for The Elder Scrolls 6. "For the last several years, we have been lucky enough to work with Make-A-Wish to grant wishes, support some of their local events, and provide items and experiences, all to benefit children who are fighting life-threatening illnesses," Bethesda explained. They further detailed that the auction's proceeds would directly benefit Make-A-Wish.

While the initiative is commendable, it's also sparked intense speculation among The Elder Scrolls 6 fans. They're drawing parallels between this Make-A-Wish project and a similar one for Starfield, trying to gauge where The Elder Scrolls 6 might stand in its development cycle and potentially pinpoint a release date.

A Reddit user, aptly named 'FartingSlowly,' observed that the Starfield character creation competition was announced two-and-a-half years before Starfield's release in September 2023. Applying this timeline to The Elder Scrolls 6, they speculated a release on September 27, 2027. However, 'FartingSlowly' was quick to temper expectations: "This is not a good indicator or metric for release by any standards... Do not take this too seriously. But. It is finally something. It isn't just a piece of junk speculation based on nothing, it's based on something from Bethesda themselves. Yeah, it's not something to actually care about but it is a refreshing change in the world of speculation."

The community's reaction was mixed, with some questioning the validity of the speculated release date. Others pointed out that Starfield’s Make-A-Wish competition was announced when it was slated for a November 11, 2022 release, suggesting a potential November 2026 release for The Elder Scrolls 6.

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

The earliest release for The Elder Scrolls 6 is speculated to be 2028, likely on next-generation consoles as well as PC. If it does launch in 2028, it will be an astonishing 17 years after Skyrim. As we wait for more details, you can delve into Everything we know about The Elder Scrolls 6.