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

The Elder Scrolls 6 community, much like the fans of Grand Theft Auto 6, is eagerly searching for any scrap of information about the game. With little to go on other than a recent character creation competition announced by Bethesda, fans have jumped into speculation mode about the game's potential release date.

This week, Bethesda unveiled its latest collaboration with Make-A-Wish, offering fans a chance to bid on an opportunity to create a character that will appear as an NPC in The Elder Scrolls 6. "For the last several years, we have been fortunate enough to work with Make-A-Wish to grant wishes, support local events, and provide experiences and items to help children battling life-threatening illnesses," Bethesda stated.

"This year, for their Silent Auction, we are giving one winner the chance to work with Bethesda Game Studios to create a character that will appear as an NPC in The Elder Scrolls 6. All proceeds from the auction will directly benefit Make-A-Wish."

While this initiative is commendable and supports a noble cause, for The Elder Scrolls 6 enthusiasts, it's more than just a charitable event. The community has drawn comparisons to a similar Make-A-Wish project for Starfield, attempting to gauge where The Elder Scrolls 6 stands in its development cycle and, consequently, its possible release date.

The speculation took an amusing turn when a Reddit user named 'FartingSlowly' noted that Bethesda's announcement for a Starfield character creation opportunity came two-and-a-half years before Starfield's release in September 2023. Applying the same timeline to The Elder Scrolls 6, FartingSlowly suggested a release date of September 27, 2027.

"This is not a reliable indicator for a release date by any means," FartingSlowly conceded. "Don't take it too seriously. But it's something tangible from Bethesda, a refreshing change from baseless speculation."

As expected, the community has met this speculation with skepticism. Some have pointed out that the Starfield Make-A-Wish competition was announced when the game was initially slated for a November 11, 2022 release, leading to speculation that The Elder Scrolls 6 might hit the shelves in November 2026.

It's been a long wait since Bethesda announced The Elder Scrolls 6 back on June 10, 2018. By January of this year, the announcement was as old as Skyrim was when The Elder Scrolls 6 was first revealed. The studio 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 last year, prompting even Bethesda's development chief, Todd Howard, to remark, "oh wow, that has been a while."

The Elder Scrolls 6 is expected to launch no earlier than 2028, likely on the next generation of consoles as well as PC. If it does release then, it will be an astonishing 17 years after Skyrim. While we await further updates, you can explore everything we know about The Elder Scrolls 6.