Elder Scrolls 6: Everything we know so far about Bethesda's latest game

Bethesda's follow-up to its multi-award-winning Skyrim is in pre-production

After leaving fans breathless with more details about Fallout 76 at E3, game wizards Bethesda pulled a Steve Jobs in Las Vegas with a "one more thing" reveal – a new addition to the Elder Scrolls series. The Elder Scrolls VI (TES6) was revealed during the game studio's presentation via a 30-second teaser and just the right level of fanfare.

Following on from the fifth game in the series, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, players are going to get the chance to journey back to the land of Tamriel to once again take up sword, shield and bow to fight for whatever faction or agenda they choose.

But what do we know about TES6, and how soon can we start adventuring again?

What do we know about Elder Scrolls 6?

Bethesda is, of course, remaining tight lipped on any real details connected to this latest edition of the Elder Scrolls series. Apart from an agonisingly short teaser trailer featuring the distinctive theme music we know relatively little about the game.

The trailer itself features an attractive skybox and a flyover of what is sure to be Tamriel, the continent where most Elder Scrolls games take place. It finishes with a gilded The Elder Scrolls VI logo and other than that we don't have much else to go on. Most games do follow the tradition of being based in specific regions of Tamriel - Skyrim, Hammerfall, Daggerfall and so on - so it wouldn't be a leap to assume this latest instalment will eventually get a location attached to its existing title.

When will it be released?

So far no release date has been announced, as the game is currently in pre-production. The fact that the teaser trailer itself is just scenery suggests we won't be getting our hands on this game until late 2019, or maybe even 2020. It wouldn't be surprising if our next major trailer for TES6 is at next year's E3, where it most likely take pride of place as the main reveal. However, a bit more hype over the Christmas season could be possible too, including maybe even the prospect of pre-orders and special editions.

What platform will it be on?

It would be foolish to think TES6 won't be released on the big three - Playstation, XBox and PC (for the mods) - but let's not rule out Nintendo. After the success of its Skyrim Switch port Bethesda will hopefully be looking to the grandfathers of gaming to bring them into the fold for a day-one release. What does remain up in the air though is which specific consoles the game will be released on. Microsoft teased yet another new console release during their E3 announcement, which means that TES6 could find a home on a new, more powerful home system come 2020.

What will it feature?

Until additional facts rear their heads like Alduin the dragon, our best bet is to go on previous games. It would be quite a surprise if the gameplay itself wasn't a quest-based, open-world wandering RPG with multiple factions, guilds and NPCs - but whether the game will be online or not remains an unanswered question.

The vast majority of Elder Scrolls games have been offline only, allowing solitary players to carve their names onto their own worlds. This changed with The Elder Scrolls Online, a massive multiplayer game not unlike World of Warcraft which featured a shared world by players around the globe. With Fallout 76's pivot to an 'online survivor platform', can we also expect TES6 so also feature some online capabilities?

But I can't possibly wait.

Well have no fear adventurer, if you've already replayed Skyrim multiple times on the Switch port and have dusted off your Vbov 360 to play Oblivion there is technically an Elder Scrolls game coming out imminently. Elder Scrolls: Blades is a free mobile game that, much like Fallout Shelter is meant to complement the source material perfectly.

Blades, named after the Empire's top agents will be released on iPad, iPhone and Android devices in the autumn of 2018. Players can sign up for early access to the beta version of the game which will put the multiplayer functionality through its paces. The first person RPG boasts "console quality graphics", curated and procedurally generated dungeons and melee and spell combat all on your phone. Exactly how intuitive the touch controls will be remains to be seen, but the options to chose between a rogue-like dungeon crawler, an arena fight area and a main story with a town-building mini game certainly seem promising.