Xbox Head Phil Spencer offered a clue as to when The Elder Scrolls 6 will release as part of Microsoft's ongoing legal battle with the Federal Trade Commission over its attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard. His insight into Bethesda's long-awaited game arrived during the second day of a preliminary injunction hearing on the FTC's bid to block Microsoft's Activision Blizzard buyout.
June 11 marked the fifth anniversary of The Elder Scrolls 6 announcement, which Bethesda delivered in the form of an E3 CGI teaser showing some mountainous landscape of what's widely suspected to be either Hammerfell or High Rock, one of nine provinces on the fictitious continent of Tamriel. And though at least one fan became a military veteran while waiting for The Elder Scrolls 6, the game still doesn't seem much closer to release than it was in 2018.
Spencer reaffirmed that state of affairs while testifying in front of a San Francisco court on June 23; asked whether The Elder Scrolls 6 will be available on PlayStation, the Xbox chief said Bethesda's upcoming RPG is so far out that any talk about its target platforms is frivolous at this point. Elaborating on that sentiment, Spencer described the next installment in the long-running franchise as "a game that's five-plus years away." His comments dovetail with Bethesda's past confirmation that The Elder Scrolls 6 will only start active development once Starfield hits the market. Following numerous delays, that prerequisite will finally be fulfilled come September 6.
Starfield itself went into full-fledged production in late 2015, following the release of Fallout 4. So, even if Bethesda starts resisting to the trend of increasingly longer AAA development cycles, the near-eight-year gap between its last two games makes Spencer's prediction look optimistic in comparison. This bit of executive insight into the state of the project also paints the fan petition for The Elder Scrolls 6 to drop Xbox exclusivity that's currently blowing up as way premature.
During the same hearing, Spencer revealed Microsoft wasn't even certain Starfield would be coming to Xbox as late as 2020, before it acquired the studio's parent—ZeniMax Media—a year later. The comment was possibly made in reference to a September 2020 report suggesting Sony wanted Starfield as a timed PS5 exclusive. That notwithstanding, the remark was meant to illustrate how platform availability decisions are only made fairly late into a given game's development cycle, which is why Spencer refused to speculate about The Elder Scrolls 6 target platforms.
The Elder Scrolls 6 is in development.