Now that Fallout 4 has finally been released, fans of the Elder Scrolls series are eagerly awaiting news about The Elder Scrolls 6.

Bethesda has previously released main-series Elder Scrolls games approximately 4-5 years apart. However, we might have a longer wait ahead of us this time.

Back at Gamescom 2015, Pete Hines, the Vice President of PR and Marketing at Bethesda Softworks, spoke about the future of the Elder Scrolls series, as reported by Dualshockers.

The Elder Scrolls 6

At the time, Bethesda Game Studio was 100% focused on Fallout 4. Rather than split the studio to work on different games, Bethesda Game Studio always focuses on one project at a time.

Fallout 4, along with its DLC and updates, would be the studio’s focus until it was complete. Fallout 4 came out on November 10, 2015. Since then, it has received three DLC episodes. While these three pieces of DLC were all announced together, it was suggested at the time that they were only the start of Fallout 4’s downloadable content. As a result, Bethesda may not be entirely done working on Fallout 4 yet.

More importantly, The Elder Scrolls Online will hold center stage for the Elder Scrolls series for quite a while. The Elder Scrolls Online is an MMORPG developed by ZeniMax Online. It came out in 2014, but was rebranded as Tamriel Unlimited in March 2015. Although it is not being handled by Bethesda Game Studios, its relevance to The Elder Scrolls 6 is that Bethesda as a whole may want to focus on The Elder Scrolls Online for a while as the newest Elder Scrolls game.

Hines estimated it would be “a very long time” before they were ready to discuss The Elder Scrolls 6.

Bethesda’s Publishing Philosophy

Hines also spoke to The Telegraph about the publishing philosophy of Bethesda Softworks.

He discussed many points, including the overall mature themes of Bethesda’s games. They have a specific tone they strive for, while still covering a wide variety of styles. For example, Bethesda publishes RPGs like Fallout and The Elder Scrolls from Bethesda Game Studios, shooters like Doom from id Software, and the stealth action-adventure game Dishonored from Arkane Studios.

They also focus on quality over quantity. In reference to the success of Skyrim, he pointed out that another publisher would “be spitting out a Skyrim 2 the year after or two years later.”

His reference to “Skyrim 2” led some fans to believe The Elder Scrolls 6 would be a direct continuation of Skyrim’s storyline. However, he used the term specifically to describe how another publisher would handle the series. Many publishers would try to capitalize on Skyrim’s popularity with an immediate successor, while Bethesda will continue to manage the Elder Scrolls series the way it has in the past.

Therefore, no matter what rumors claim, it is highly unlikely the next Elder Scrolls game will be “Skyrim 2” or any sort of direction continuation of Skyrim.

The Future

Since Fallout 4 is out now, if not entirely finished, perhaps we can look forward to news and updates about The Elder Scrolls 6 this year or in 2017.

Without any facts about the game, fans can only speculate about what the game will include. There are currently many debates about the game’s setting, with popular candidates being:

Elsweyr

Valenwood

Argonia

Every setting theory has points in its favor, often related to the lore or potential plots. However, no one knows anything concrete at this time. Bethesda could choose to set The Elder Scrolls 6 in a location fans haven’t considered.

Work on The Elder Scrolls 6 should begin by 2017, and we hope to hear more then. With any luck, The Elder Scrolls 6 will be released by 2019 or 2020 at the latest.

If we’re lucky, perhaps we’ll hear more at E3 2016. Last year, Bethesda held its first-ever E3 press conference, where it showed titles like Doom, Fallout 4, and The Elder Scrolls Online, and announced Dishonored 2 for the first time.

Bethesda is having its own show again at E3 2016, set for Sunday, June 12 at 7 PM PST / 10 PM EST. The company has not announced which games it will bring to E3. We can probably expect footage from upcoming games, maybe new Elder Scrolls Online content, and a few surprise announcements. If we’re going to learn about The Elder Scrolls 6 anytime soon, E3 is the perfect event for an official announcement.