Grand Theft Auto 6 is one of the most anticipated games of all time, and the long-running “We got X before GTA 6” meme is going to soon be passed down to a different game: The Elder Scrolls 6. Both games have been in development for a mind-boggling amount of time, but the wait for GTA 6 is at least nearly finally over, unless I just jinxed it. Rockstar has been slow to roll out trailers and GTA 6 updates, but gamers waiting for The Elder Scrolls 6 have actually been in a far worse boat.
Rockstar has at least dropped two trailers, story details, plenty of images to sift through and analyze, and even launched the GTA 6 pre-orders. Bethesda, on the other hand, has only released a 36-second teaser trailer. That was eight years ago, and there is no telling when Bethesda will be ready to finally reveal a little bit more about the game. Once GTA 6 finally gets here in November, The Elder Scrolls 6 is going to find itself the new target of one of the internet’s biggest memes.
This “We got X before GTA 6” meme has been permeating the internet for several years at this point. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when the joke started, but it goes as far back as pre-COVID times. For those who may not be aware of the meme, it’s basically something someone says as a reaction to a crazy world event or technological advancement that feels strange to have happened before GTA 6‘s release.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Easy (120s)Medium (90s)Hard (60s)
In just the past six years alone, the world looks and feels wildly different than it did before 2020. Now, everything feels like a pre-COVID and post-COVID era, and GTA 6 will be finding itself in a fascinating time that seems worlds away from the pop culture landscape that GTA 5 launched in. Early GTA 6 sales are already proving just how hungry gamers are for a new installment after over a decade of waiting and bringing life to one of the internet’s longest-running jokes.
A Brief Look at Some of the Events That Have Happened While Waiting for GTA 6 and The Elder Scrolls 6
- The world dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The United States has had three different presidents: Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.
- 17 different versions of the iPhone have hit the market.
- Vine was shuttered, and TikTok eventually took its place.
- Queen Elizabeth II passed, and King Charles III took the throne.
- NASA landed the Perseverance rover on Mars.
- Two console generations have happened.
- Over 30 MCU movies have been released in theaters.
- Space tourism is closer to being a common activity because of companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin.
- AI has evolved to the point where it’s one of the most debated topics at the moment.
- Waymo gave the world self-driving taxis.
- Artemis II successfully accomplished a lunar fly-by.
This is just scratching the surface. Pop culture and society at large have evolved at an alarmingly fast pace since GTA 5 came out, and there is still time for even more wild things to happen before November 2026 gets here. Rockstar still has yet to reveal extra GTA 6 details, but the rapid change that has happened around the world since 2013 also makes me wonder if some aspects of the game might actually feel outdated at this point.
The distance between GTA 5 and GTA 6 will be 13 years once the latter comes out, and the stretch of time between Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls 6 is rumored to be from 2011 to 2028/2029. Well-known insider Jason Schreier has claimed that The Elder Scrolls 6‘s release date probably won’t arrive for at least another two years, and that might be a generous estimation. Based on how slowly Bethesda seems to be working, it could be even longer.
With all the crazy things that have gone down since GTA 5, there’s no telling what will happen in the coming future before The Elder Scrolls 6. It’s even highly possible that the PS6 and next-gen Xbox could be out by then. That’s a mind-blowing thought, but unless Bethesda has some major surprise up its sleeve that no one knows about, a 2028/2029 or 2030s launch looks like a real possibility.
Also, with GTA 6 and The Elder Scrolls 6 both being the sixth installments in their respective franchises, it shows just how much more complicated and time-consuming game development is getting with each new entry.
Bethesda will probably inherit the “We got X before GTA 6” meme even after The Elder Scrolls 6 comes out, too. After The Elder Scrolls 6, eyes will then be on Fallout 5. With the rate that these games are being developed, Bethesda hopefully outsources Fallout 5 to another studio in order to speed up the process, but that remains to be seen.
The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5 Aren’t the Only Games Stuck in Limbo
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake
- Star Wars Eclipse
- Beyond Good and Evil 2
- BioShock 4
- Judas
- Star Citizen
A long development cycle isn’t always necessarily a bad thing, though. There have been plenty of games that have faced delays and production shake-ups and have still turned out great. Games like Pragmata and Dead Island 2 made it out of rocky development cycles, but a game like The Elder Scrolls 6 is a completely different beast. Its predecessor, Skyrim, is still wildly popular, and that leaves Bethesda with high expectations to meet.
Right now, it looks like the wait for more The Elder Scrolls 6 news is set to continue. Major gaming events like The Game Awards that air at the end of the year are great times to make major announcements, but Elder Scrolls fans might be better off keeping their expectations in check for a little while longer. A fresh reveal is likely still a long time away at this point, and it’s going to be fascinating to see how much more the world changes before The Elder Scrolls 6 makes its debut.
- Released
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2026
- ESRB
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m
- Developer(s)
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Bethesda Game Studios
- Publisher(s)
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Bethesda Softworks
