Even though it wasannouncedover five years ago, it appearsThe Elder Scrolls 6is still a ways off. And even then, PlayStation 5 gamers might not get a chance to play it. According tonewly released court documentsfrom the Microsoft FTC case,The Elder Scrolls 6will be released only on Xbox and PC and is not expected until 2026 or later.
This isn’t exactly shocking news, though it is disappointing on both fronts. Just last monthPhil Spencer claimedThe Elder Scrolls 6was so far away that it was too early to even think about platforms. Apparently, that was just all talk though, as it looks like the decision has already been made to make it an Xbox console exclusive. The decision to giveStarfieldthe same treatment hasalready yielded positive results for Microsoft. We may be heading to an era where this is simply the new normal.
I used to be an adventurer like you. Then I went exclusive.
It feels like not long ago we were closer than ever to a time of no more exclusives.PlayStation exclusives were coming to PC, and more games were launching as cross-platform. Now it feels like we’ve taken one step forward and two steps back. It’s hard to tell who exactly the winner will be here, but it definitely won’t be the players.
Time-wise, 2026 would putThe Elder Scrolls 6release at around eight years after being announced. For comparison, the time between the announcement and release ofStarfieldwas just over five years. However, both titles were technically announced on the same day, so clearly they wouldn’t have the same release.
Also, it was just last month thatBethesda confirmedThe Elder Scrolls 6to be in early development. If development had just started, even 2026 is probably not a realistic timeframe.
Either way, there are still years until we see the open-world RPG release. Hopefully, by then things have changed and we can see the popular franchise remain on all platforms. A guy can hope, right?
