Remember when the joke used to be “We’re getting [this] before GTA 6?” Well, those days are about to be long behind us, because GTA 6 is finally officially launching on November 19, 2026. But do you know what game isn’t launching this year? The Elder Scrolls 6, of course. Granted, I do want Bethesda to take as much time as they need to get this game right (or as close to right as they possibly can) because I know it needs it. However, I’ve also been craving an original mainline Elder Scrolls game since my relationship with Skyrim ended more than a decade ago, despite being on and off again through the game’s countless re-releases. I know I’m not the only one who feels like the wait has lasted an eternity, either, but the craziest part of it all is that we’re somehow getting GTA 6 before The Elder Scrolls 6. It’s hard to believe I can even say that and still be factually accurate.
Now, I’m not saying that The Elder Scrolls 6 should have launched before Grand Theft Auto 6 because I understand how unrealistic and unsympathetic that can sound. I do find it interesting that they’re both the 6th mainline entries in their respective franchises, so maybe that number has something to do with long waits and delays. But what I’m seriously getting at is that, given both Rockstar and Bethesda’s desire for quality and the amount of time that has passed between the last Grand Theft Auto and Elder Scrolls installments and now, it once seemed far more believable that Bethesda’s long-awaited RPG would arrive first. After all, The Elder Scrolls 6 was publicly announced five years before Rockstar even properly revealed GTA 6, yet the latter is now months away while the former still feels like a game from some distant, hypothetical future.
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Again, I’m glad Bethesda isn’t rushing The Elder Scrolls 6 out the door just to end the wait, but watching one of gaming’s most famously overdue sequels beat it to the punch is just crazy to me. What this ultimately comes down to isn’t just The Elder Scrolls 6‘s long development either. In reality, this is about how long it has been since we got an original Elder Scrolls game, the length of time between Grand Theft Auto 5‘s launch and GTA 6‘s upcoming release, and everything both Bethesda and Rockstar have accomplished throughout that period, all while we’ve been waiting for The Elder Scrolls 6.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Guess the games from the emojis.
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Everything That Has Happened While Waiting for The Elder Scrolls 6
- The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim was released on November 11, 2011.
- Grand Theft Auto 5 originally came out on September 17, 2013.
- Fallout 4 was released worldwide on November 10, 2015.
- The Elder Scrolls 6 was officially announced on June 10, 2018.
- Red Dead Redemption 2 was released worldwide on October 26, 2018.
- Fallout 76 was released worldwide on November 14, 2018.
- Starfield was officially released on September 6, 2023.
- Grand Theft Auto 6 was formally revealed on December 5, 2023.
- Grand Theft Auto 6 is scheduled for release on November 19, 2026.
- The Elder Scrolls 6 is still in development.
The first thing to consider is the fact that Skyrim launched on November 11, 2011. At the time of writing, then, nearly 15 years have passed since we were treated to a new mainline Elder Scrolls game from Bethesda—and I’m not counting The Elder Scrolls Online, which was developed by ZeniMax Online Studios and only published by Bethesda. But what’s more striking is that the last Grand Theft Auto game, GTA 5, was released almost two years after Skyrim, and yet GTA 6, the famously memed “how-long-must-we-wait” game, is officially arriving before The Elder Scrolls 6.
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Now, let me be a little more lenient, because I’m sure you may be thinking, “Bethesda has been busier between releases than Rockstar,” and you’re right. While Rockstar and Bethesda both have two major franchises to juggle between The Elder Scrolls and Fallout for Bethesda and Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption for Rockstar, Bethesda’s newest IP, Starfield, joined the ranks during the wait for The Elder Scrolls 6. Because of that, it truly has had more on its plate than Rockstar, so it’s only natural that The Elder Scrolls 6 is arriving after, and potentially not even soon after, Grand Theft Auto 6.
The Elder Scrolls 6’s Long Wait Has Bethesda’s Priorities to Blame
But the question that I and many others have been asking for a long time is “why?” Don’t get me wrong—Starfield was/is great, and I’m one of those who has actually enjoyed it in spite of all its haters. However, for not only it but also Fallout 76—Bethesda’s big live-service project—to take precedence over what is widely understood to be the studio’s most defining franchise is just strange. Between Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls 6, Bethesda has released Fallout 4, Fallout 76, and Starfield, all of which have undoubtedly contributed to the long wait for the developer’s highly anticipated open-world RPG. And on top of that, the COVID-19 pandemic occurred in 2020, which also slowed things down.
In other words, The Elder Scrolls 6 has had to wait in line behind three other Bethesda games, which, in turn, explains why Grand Theft Auto 6 is getting here first. Unlike The Elder Scrolls 6, GTA 6 really only had Red Dead Redemption 2 to wait for (if you don’t count the developer’s time spent on GTA Online), so it makes sense that it would launch ahead of TES6. However, that doesn’t at all detract from my point that Rockstar’s GTA sequel that everyone once thought would never arrive is now beating The Elder Scrolls 6 to the punch in a crazy turn of events.
Between Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls 6, Bethesda has released Fallout 4, Fallout 76, and Starfield, all of which have undoubtedly contributed to the long wait for the developer’s highly anticipated open-world RPG.
At the end of the day, I would still rather wait several more years for The Elder Scrolls 6 than see Bethesda rush it out simply because we’re all tired of waiting. This game has far too much riding on it for that, especially after Skyrim spent more than a decade defining what an Elder Scrolls game could be for an entire generation of players. Still, none of that makes the situation any less astounding. GTA 6 went from being gaming’s favorite imaginary release to an actual game with a date on the calendar, while The Elder Scrolls 6 remains little more than a title, a teaser, and a distant promise. Maybe Bethesda’s long road will eventually prove worthwhile, but until then, the fact that GTA 6 somehow beat The Elder Scrolls 6 to the punch is going to remain one of the most downright bonkers twists in modern gaming.
- Released
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November 19, 2026
- ESRB
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Rating Pending – Likely Mature 17+
