The Elder Scrolls 6 Gets Concerning New Report Ahead of Long-Awaited Release

January 17, 2026, 6:26am

The Elder Scrolls fans have been waiting since the release of Skyrim in 2011 for The Elder Scrolls 6. That’s 15 years, and counting. And every year the wait grows longer, the expectations grow larger. That said, should the expectations be high? Because Bethesda Game Studios hasn’t put out a generational game since 2011, aka Skyrim. In 2015, it put out Fallout 4, a good game, maybe even a great game, but not a generation-defining game. Then in 2018, it put out Fallout 76, which, over time, grew into a compelling experience but was a failure at launch. Most recently, in 2023, it released Starfield, which is a good game, but again not a great game, let alone an amazing game. Quite simply, it’s debatable that the Bethesda Game Studios that once dominated the RPG genre even exists anymore, which a new report gets at.

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Back in 2023, The Elder Scrolls lead designer, Kurt Kuhlmann, left Bethesda Game Studios after more than two decades with the company. Kuhlmann is also often referred to as the lore master of the series. In other words, a very important part of Bethesda Game Studios, which no doubt suffered from the departure.

Problems After Skyrim

According to Kuhlmann, the problems began not long after Skyrim, which makes sense, because after Skyrim, we never saw the same Bethesda Game Studios again. After Fallout 4, the studio was supposed to transition to The Elder Scrolls 6. This never happened, though. The team then made Fallout 76, and then made Starfield. It’s not exactly clear if those calls were made by Todd Howard, but whoever called these shots missed two in a row. Whatever the case, Kuhlmann says the whole vibe of the studio changed after the massive success of Skyrim.

For what it is worth, I have heard rumblings over the years that more or less echo this general sentiment, which is that Bethesda Game Studios has been slowly deteriorating due to a string of poor decisions from leadership, the exodus of key talent, and poor project management.

So, where does this leave Bethesda Game Studios and The Elder Scrolls 6? Well, if I’m a huge Elder Scrolls fan, Kuhlmann’s words would give me pause. Just the fact that he left the studio is arguably a major red flag. To this end, the chances that The Elder Scrolls 6 comes out and delivers an experience equal to what Skyrim was in 2011, what Oblivion was in 2006, or what Morrowind was in 2002 are looking slim. What’s more likely is that it will be equal to what Starfield was in 2023. That’s the studio making The Elder Scrolls 6. The studio that made those other games doesn’t exist anymore.

All of that said, and as always, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think, or join the conversation over on the ComicBook Forum.