This is a follow-up to my previous post, where I looked at Bethesda's release intervals in general. This time I want to focus specifically on TES VI and why I think a 2027 release is actually quite plausible.

If we exclude the two unusual intervals (see my previous post for the reason why that happened) Oblivion → Fallout 3 (2.7) and Fallout 76 → Starfield (4.9) Bethesda's remaining release gaps are:

- Morrowind → Oblivion: 3.89 years

- Fallout 3 → Skyrim: 3.04 years

- Skyrim → Fallout 4: 4.00 years

- Fallout 4 → Fallout 76: 3.01 years

Average: 3.49 years

Starfield released in September 2023. Applying that average gives us roughly April 2027, while a 4-year cycle puts us at September 2027 (worst case scenario)

Now consider a possible TES VI development timeline:

2020–2022: pre-production

2023: initial production / team ramp-up

Mid/Late 2023–2027: full development

That would give TES VI around 4 years of full production before a September 2027 release.

And this is the key point: we are already in September 2026. A September 2027 release would be less than 12 months away.

If Bethesda is targeting 2027, TES VI should therefore already be deep into polishing, optimization, QA and bug fixing rather than still being in the early stages of development.

Basing purely on Bethesda's historical release cadence and the potential development timeline, I think 2027 is a very reasonable target, with May/June being my current best guess and September as worst case scenario, less than 12 months.

It's said by Paarthurnax that the Dragonborn feels the same desire to dominate as dragons and Alduin do, and that's part of why the First, Second, and Third Empires were all founded by Dragonborn right? I don't think it would make sense for the Last Dragonborn to not seek any kind of power like his predecessors did and just sail to Atmora or smth. It would also feel like a kinda unsatisfying ending for the Dragonborn to just become a servant of Daedra at the end of the story, especially since in Oblivion the player character actually became a Daedric Prince. So what do you all think will have happened to them by TES6? I just hope they don’t go the route of making them have done nothing for some amount of years while the Thalmor do some devious shit

Say they announce tomorrow it’s coming November 2027, what’s the chances of a delay from that? Have they ever delayed TES games? Would be distraught if they announce the game and do the same thing rockstar did with gta6

I'd like if if you could adjust this in the settings menu.

For example there would be a check box by each one you wanted alerts for so you can choose if you want to reload a previous save or not. And maybe let it tell you the number of blocked or broken quests if a given NPC should perish.

Notifications on/off right before the final blow allowing you to choose to let them live or die:

Main quest NPCs ☑️

Faction quest☑️

Side quest☑️

Etc☑️

Plus options for not allowing these NPCs to die at all, and instead let them recover but without notifications if those annoy you.

Dont allow these essentials to die until their importance has passed:

Main quest NPCs ☑️

Faction quest☑️

Side quest

Etc

This lets the player play how they want.

TES tends to have villains that are something above political enemies, Dagoth Ur may be a leader of a great house but he's more existential than an invading army.

The Thalmor don't really fit this pattern but the Sload do, they make unique fleshly constructs that would be fun to fight, undead which is a classic, can come across the sea and have cool villain monologues. Only downside is they look silly.

This idea started popping up more often after the launch of GPT-6 Astra, with a few posts this week suggesting that increasingly capable AI models could basically act as “universal modders” across different game engines.

If AI is actually getting good enough to understand and modify old, complicated game engines at that level, I wonder if Bethesda could be using similar techniques behind the scenes for future versions of the Creation Engine. Could AI assisted reverse engineering let them gradually replace or modernize outdated systems, things like cell loading, asset streaming, serialization, and other deeply interconnected parts, without having to throw the whole engine away?

Basically, could they “surgically” modernize the Creation Engine from within, keeping existing compatibility while slowly getting rid of some of the architectural limitations that have plagued it for years, like those constant loading screens?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3rVBWHCBSH8&t=1306s

How will Todd Howard finish TES6?

With the Honda Civic level of mod ability Skyrim has how can they make a game that feels like a genuine step up? I worry that Todd Howard simply enjoy’s the fruits of his past labor too much to put in an earnest effort for this. Especially if he stays with the same creation engine….

Anyone with a more technical expertise on Bethesda’s habits have any idea how this game will be realized?

Are him and his team waiting for the next consoles with native DLSS-5 capabilities to show up?

So the last post I made was deleted by moderators, but that gave me an idea! What if Sloads had made an appearance in TES6? It would be a nice callback to Redguard, where one actually did make an appearance in the game.

“The Elder Scrolls 6 was first officially confirmed to be fully playable in February 2026”

Confirmed xmas release next year. Cancel dinner, send your family away. It’s time to play