Bethesda warns it’s “impossible” for Elder Scrolls 6 to meet expectations

Elder Scrolls 6 developers at Bethesda know it will be “impossible” to meet expectations for the game but find the challenge a “blessing and a curse.”

Elder Scrolls 6 is one of the most anticipated games of the future. Following the success of Skyrim, developer Bethesda has been working on the next installment since it was announced in 2018.

While the company stepped away from focusing on the game to release its brand new IP, Starfield, Bethesda has slowly been trickling in new information about what to expect from Elder Scrolls 6.

However, despite being teased for six years now, there is still very little known about the game. In an interview with KiWi Talkz, Bethesda’s Bruce Nesmith explained how the pressure to deliver has become a “blessing and a curse” for the dev team working on Elder Scrolls 6.

Nesmith is a veteran of Bethesda and worked as a writer for Fallout 3, Fallout 4, and Elder Scrolls: Oblivion.

“The fans who want to buy Elder Scrolls 6, their expectation is going to be almost impossible to meet,” Nesmith began. 

“Marketing departments just put their heads in their hands and weep at this. Because it’s like, ‘Okay, if it isn’t perfect, it doesn’t get a 95-plus on Metacritic, we’re a failure’.”

While Nesmith does not doubt that Elder Scrolls 6 is “going to be an amazing game,” he further noted that it will naturally be compared to all previous Bethesda titles.

Given that Bethesda is the mind behind some of the best video games of all time, including Skyrim, Fallout: New Vegas, and more, there is no denying that the pressure is on for the team to deliver on Elder Scrolls 6.

As a way to fully expand on this concept, Newsmith highlighted Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios as an example of how, once a team is on “the map” and finds great success, “expectations are sky high” for their next game despite not being a studio that was previously “on everybody’s mind.” 

Elder Scrolls 6 is expected to release at some point in 2026. However, we’ll be sure to keep you updated with all the latest information regarding the game’s release date when we know more.