The Elder Scrolls 6 – looks like we’re going to be reusing this one teaser image for a long while yet (pic: Bethesda)

The sequel to Skyrim has left pre-production and is now in full development, but that doesn’t mean you’ll see anything soon.

If you prefer fantasy to sci-fi then the imminent release of Starfield is still good news, because it means the launch of The Elder Scrolls 6 edges that little bit closer and becomes more of a focus for Bethesda.

Previously, it’s not been clear if development has even begun on the follow-up to Skyrim, with previous comments from Bethesda suggesting it’s merely in pre-production, which could mean little more than creating concept art and technical tests.

More recently though there have been signs that real progress is being made, with Todd Howard confirming he will be the director and now Bethesda marketing boss Pete Hines revealing that the game is now in early development.

Hines’ comments were brief, and like everyone else discussing the game he made it very clearly that it is still years away from release, with Microsoft previously implying it wouldn’t be out until around 2028.

Nevertheless, Hines indicates that: ‘Yes, there are people working on The Elder Scrolls 6,’ but that Starfield is going to, ‘remain our priority for a while before we talk about anything else.’

When Spanish website Vandal pushed him to confirm whether it was still in pre-production he stated, via Google Translate: ‘No. It’s in development, but it’s in early development.’

Assuming the 2028 release date is at least roughly correct, and that full development has only recently started, that means you’re unlikely to see anything even halfway substantial until at least 2026.

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Although at least that’s a more certain future than awaits Fallout fans, as that hasn’t even entered pre-production yet and there’s been no indication that Bethesda has the capacity or desire to work on two major titles at once.

They could outsource development of a new game though, as they did with New Vegas, and indeed there have been rumours of both a remaster and a sequel – although the main problem there is that original developer Obsidian, which is also owned by Microsoft, are tied up with their own games at the moment.

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MORE : Xbox lawyers claim Elder Scrolls 6 is out in 2026, not 2028

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The sequel to Skyrim has left pre-production and is now in full development, but that doesn’t mean you’ll see anything soon.