After almost a decade of silence, Bethesda has released a new teaser for the sixth title in its much-loved Elder Scrolls series. We have a name, and with it, a location for the game: Sentinel, as in the northwestern coastal region of the fantasy continent of Tamriel. Bethesda executive producer Todd Howard revealed the title in a video message celebrating Bethesda’s fortieth anniversary as a developer (per IGN), saying, “Everybody’s always asking about Elder Scrolls VI, and we thought, hey, given the moment, what a perfect time to tell you what The Elder Scrolls VI is actually called.” Xbox acquired Bethesda in 2021.
Howard’s “everybody’s always asking about Elder Scrolls VI” line is particularly funny, given that Bethesda announced Elder Scrolls VI back in 2018, then proceeded to let updates on the project accumulate dust until some players began doubting it would ever be released. Howard even acknowledged the prolonged wait for further Scrolls VI updates, telling IGN in March that players should “just pretend we didn’t announce it.” This trailer seems to blow that dust away with the winds of the future, or whatever this cryptic teaser is supposed to mean. If nothing else, it does provide an equally cryptic quote from a seemingly new character named Yazar (labeled here as a Moth Priest of Hammerfall), which reads, “The scroll offered only a shimmer, a veil thinly lifted to my eyes. A future lost. A victory undone. Sands of time scattered by fate.” The date on the quote, 4E 206, presumably sets Sentinel five years after the events of Bethesda’s previous Elder Scrolls game, Skyrim (4E 201).
This title reveal comes amid turmoil at Xbox and as the world braces for the sixth numbered release in another celebrated franchise, Grand Theft Auto VI, which has been promoted with PlayStation 5 gameplay footage and a “Plays Best on PS5” disclaimer. While we’re clearly in for a wait for official confirmation that Sentinel will not be a cross-console title, IGN has previously reported whispers within Microsoft that Bethesda hasn’t been developing the game with Sony in mind, and Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has been coy about Elder Scrolls‘ future as an Xbox exclusive. Perhaps this teaser’s timing is the latest shot in the looming next-gen console wars; time will tell.
Watch the new teaser below.
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