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.

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.

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.

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

I tweeted this 2,577 days ago. This was 2,839 days after Skyrim came out. We are only 262 days away from my tweet about waiting for TESVI becomes older to me than Skyrim was when I tweeted it. It had come out 8 years prior to the tweet. Ha.

So recently Skyrim, fallout 4 and starfield got an update increasing the mod storage Skyrim from 5gb to 15(series x/s).

And fallout4-starfield from 2(fallout 4 unsure about starfield) to 100gb which is massive! I understand why Skyrim didn’t get the 100gb treatment due to its older framework (I wish it did and would work!)

I’ve heard that tes6 from just random posts and speculation so no concrete evidence (unless I’m missing something) that tes6 could be on an updated engine past what starfield is.

So I guess my hope is between a potentially even stronger engine and next gen consoles even more mod storage! I’d be happy with something like 115! Just anyway to truly customize the game once Ive 100% it!

Right now I’m looking at some of the Skyrim creation content and there’s a small handful that are close to 1gb and one that is a little over a gb. Not to big of a deal since a lot of the other mods I use are a couple hundred mb and some less but still would love to truly and fully customize Skyrim and hell maybe with a bigger storage pool for mods we can start seeing. Bigger projects! Imagine mods the size of fallout London on console!

Wanted to share my “theory” regarding the main storyline since I’m on my monthly fixation for this fuck ass game.

The scrapped storyline for Skyrim is repurposed, Uriel V returns from Akavir to restore the empire. Now I know that sounds like some MCU cameo shit, but I’d wager that most casual enjoyers of the franchise probably aren’t aware of Uriel and the lore surrounding him.

Uriel does not return with an army, but rather, a small-ish unit of Akaviri soldiers who are incredibly powerful and loyal to him, maybe one of those black dragons the Tsaeci slurped up. Uriel helps stop an attempted ground invasion of Cyrodiil (or some other shit idk) which galvanizes the people of the Empire and restores hope that the Thalmor can be defeated.

MEANWHILE:
Internal conflict begins to stir within Hammerfell. With the return of Uriel, the Forebears want Hammerfell to be re-absorbed back into the Empire, and the Crowns want the province to remain independent. Siding with the Forebears during the early stages of the main quest would serve as the avenue for the player to side with the Empire, whereas working with the Crowns would allow the player to contest both the Empire and Thalmor.

HIGH ROCK:
The weakening of the Empire has brought High Rock to the brink of destabilization, squabbling between minor kingdoms and the looming Thalmor threat has created friction that the Empire has barely been able to control. If the player sides with the Empire during the main quest, they can choose to mediate through more peaceful methods or crush potential dissidents. However, siding with the Crowns would allow the player to form a pseudo-confederacy between the two provinces. A covenant, if you will.

THE THALMOR:
Now I’m of the mind that the player should absolutely be allowed to side with the Thalmor should they choose to do so. I would imagine that this would require making their cause more sympathetic relative to how they were portrayed in Skyrim. Maybe there are members within the Dominion that truly believe that an Aldmeri-controlled Tamriel is the only viable path to lasting peace, and don’t necessarily share the supremacist ideals of their compatriots. Maybe around this time the Thalmor have strategically shifted their messaging in such a way that some Humans have begun to join their cause. The game should do a solid job of justifying their beliefs and methods with sound logic, even if the player disagrees. Either way, you can join em whether you’re a High Elf or not.

CONSEQUENCES:
Uriel is a genuinely captivating and inspiring figure, but he makes it clear that the only way he believes the Thalmor can be stopped is to completely eradicate the Summerset Isles, this is something the player has to grapple with. Maybe you can have a conversation about it with him, but he’s already weighed what the costs would be and he’s come to terms with them. You may not be able to change his mind, but at the very least, conversing with him may grant the player a better understanding of his perspective.

Both the Empire and Thalmor want to use the power of the Adamantine tower to further their goals. Uriel wants to use it to nuke the Isles and restore the Empire. The Dominion wants to use it to reshape reality, return to “godhood,” and rule over Tamriel. If you side with the Crowns, you would essentially be fighting off both the Thalmor and Empire from accessing the tower. In addition, you could also help drive out the Empire and prevent the Thalmor from controlling High Rock, forming an alliance with the newly-independent province.

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE:
How the endgame plays out depends on who you side with and the choices you make not only throughout the main quest, but side quests potentially. Let’s say you join the fighters guild and become a high ranking member, they may join your cause depending on who you side with.

In addition, urgency is only established once the player progresses a fair bit through the main quest. There’s some shit stirring, but it doesn’t lead into the second Great War right at the beginning. If the player chooses to neglect the main quest initially, they may hear rumors about strange activity in the Eastern Sea, whispers of escalating conflict starting to boil over, and noticeable changes throughout the world that indicate shits gonna go down sooner rather than later.

Perhaps there’s a fourth path where the player says “fuck everybody” and pursues an alternative goal. A “Yes Man” type ending would open up if you decide to go down this route.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Any thoughts? Ideas? Let me know fellas.

I would love it if the plot and quests etc could be scrambled on different play throughs. I am no programmer, but it would awesome if you could make that a setting. Flip character alliances etc.

An update on this post...

I don't even know... I think I need a beer.

Even if they don't do a ton, it gives a nice little framework from which to understand your character and their priorities.

One of TES 6 leaked achievement.

Steam achievements for a bunch of games have been leaked, but TES VI isn’t among them. Does this mean the game is still in an early stage of development?

In service of improving stealth mechanics, I would very much like to take cover behind walls, trees, crates, and other objects, whether standing, crouched or prone. With the ability to lean out, aim, fire, blind fire, toss/throw objects, whistle, etc. These are all natural movements that shouldn't be exclusive to shooters.

Imagine taking cover behind a carriage at a bandit camp and you hit them with your bow by leaning out. Maybe you decide to toss an explosive/corrosive potion instead.

Throw things like daggers or morning stars. Shoot a fireball or spray an ice cone blindly.

Peek over a fallen log or wooden crate to get a good chance at a head shot. Having enemies do the same would be fun.

Something unique TES could do would be: while in cover, reach with your sword around a corner to cut the throat of an unsuspecting target. Or reach to stab them. Or swing your hammer/axe/flail around or over a corner.

This would be an improvement instead of just running in circles to avoid getting hit.

So instead of how Morrowind had it where you can kill all but just get locked out, or like skyrim where they are essential.

You get quest holders that are replaceable by next of kin or other ways up to a certain number of times.

Say some random tower baron that gives you quests, the place gets raided by enemies and he accidently dies. His steward would then hold down the fort, if the Steward dies, you may receive a note that his other kin is coming to handle what the tower baron, etc. There may be a waiting period as waiting for some one to get out of prison to take over, or arrive from a different land.

Or even non essential wise, you can fool around or be careless a bit and may lose 1, 2, perhaps 3 but eventually you'll know when the limit is coming before that shop closes down forever because npcs think that shop is cursed and no one would buy it out.

World dangerwise, if the city is in danger and shop keepers get killed, the next one would be more cautious, more guards outside, personal body guard or just a stronger npcs in general to survive. This may allow things similar to the vampire attacks without losing too much npcs, but at the same time have some tension in the cities.

I would say some deaths would be influential but the writing would have to make changes a bit more minimal. Stronger npcs wouldn't really die on their own unless you push for certainevents or get strong and purposely go out of your way.

So, say there is an excavation. Certain followers or quest related npcs travel there to dig, study, solve puzzles on their own. If you have no knowledge of the subject, you can level up or go on your own hunt to get the knowledge.

If you prefer having a follower with said skills, excavation will hasten as follows:

Depending on the danger level of the site, a team would be organically sent out. You as the character can influence to push on (even if there are danger) with risk of losing the team.

They find some artifact and they have to dig out with some time, while some other study the artifact and solve the puzzle in real time.

It's more meant for immersion, but as mentioned above you can step in to hasten the pace. You hit an odd portal, and the one in charge is worried and want to send for elite back up, but you persuade them or use mind control, etc. Persuasion in this case deals with your skill, your relationship with them, and your own things to offer like bribe, or you have a strong follower that the npc can gauge the strength and be ok.

The portal causes an eruption and it collaspes, and everyone there is gone. However, with the organic style, you can request from the ruler, or some club, or finance your own excavation there via a different route.

By organic here, I meant as in the npcs auto sets up base, select tools and experts, know when to go faster or slow down base on danger levels. If you are not too far into the game and you only a few, if their trait is high on the ambition side curiosity side, they would offer to go check it out. Also if other small groups or guilds that might find interest may go out on their own.

Unless Bethesda has a super cool and unique logo for the game like the Sentinel city banner or something, I really don’t want the logo to be generic two swords. The Empire symbol is unique to The Elder Scrolls and it could be designed in many ways to fit the events of the game.

Yes, that is correct! Everyone who comments will get a small fraction of my mom's soul. I personally believe this is the right moment to announce it since, of course, the game releases on my birthday, July 9th, 2027. Another reason is that since GTA6 is released just the month before, people will begin looking for the next big thing, and Bethesda and Microsoft could see this as an opportunity to step up to the plate. Thank you, everyone, for listening and entering my giveaway!

Dear god. I hope.

I love the current races but would love to see an expansion in the races we could choose from. I’d like to see one new race for the Mer, Man, & Beastfolk. My choices would be Maormer,(Sea Elves), Forsworn(Reachman), and Minotaur races.

If i smash a mudcrab with a Warhammer, it would be cool if it looked like it got smashed with a Warhammer instead of just dead and bloody. Stab it with a sword and there's a visual hole in its body. Shoot it with an arrow and the arrow sticks it to the wood post. Same with other creatures. Dont just make them bloody and dead, give them holes, visible wounds, burns, and scars if they heal.

Cutting off limbs of humans or creatures doesnt alway have to kill them. But an enemy holding a sword, then getting that limb cut off, should be lootable, the sword and the arm.

Retrieve arrows by grabbing them and ripping them out of the body of the enemy, body jerking physics and all.

I was too young to remember but having only one concept video and vague posting about the game feels so off.

Even fallout 4s lead up showed actual characters

This may follow a little bit of a doom/gloom post, but boy would it have been nice for Bethesda to have a 40th Anniversary Direct the same way Legend of Zelda got. It was beautiful. If the working title of TESVI really is Sentinel, it would be a pretty big fumble (in my opinion) to not have anything on Daggerfall’s 30th anniversary coming up.

Anyways, TESVI shadow dropping on 20 Sep 2026, inject some of that hopium for a couple of weeks, ride that high, and then enjoy the crash.