Todd Howard says Bethesda wants Elder Scrolls 6 to be "the ultimate fantasy-world simulator," although he won't say exactly how the developers will accomplish that just yet.
In an interview with GQ, Howard is asked what he wants to achieve with Elder Scrolls 6, and it's worth keeping in mind that this is one of only a handful of times the famed Skyrim director has ever spoken about the game. He's had his hands full with Starfield for the past several years, and he's said in the past not to expect Elder Scrolls 6 until 2026 at the very earliest.
"It's like… I don't want to answer, but I want to be polite. I will say that we want it to fill that role of the ultimate fantasy-world simulator," Howard said. "And there are different ways to accomplish that given the time that has passed."
It's a fair, even generous answer. Starfield is Bethesda's Whole Thing right now, launching into early access in just over a week. It's undoubtedly one of the biggest upcoming Xbox Series X games of the year and Howard's first new release as director since 2015's Fallout 4. I'm frankly surprised he had the headspace to talk about Elder Scrolls 6, which Howard has said might be his last game, at all.
Although we know very little about the sequel, we do know it's likely still in pre-production and is definitely being built in Starfield's engine, although Howard has said it'll likely need to be tweaked as development on Elder Scrolls 6 gets more advanced.
As it's still so far out, there's no telling what platform(s) Elder Scrolls 6 will hit, and even Xbox boss Phil Spencer has said it's too early to make a decision on that front. Although Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda completed in 2021, it's not guaranteed that Elder Scrolls 6 will be an Xbox exclusive, especially with timed-exclusivity deals becoming more and more commonplace.
Here are the best Xbox Series X games to play in the long, long wait for Elder Scrolls 6.
