'Elder Scrolls 6' Teaser Release Hints at PS5 and Next-Gen Xbox Launch

One of the biggest franchises in video games is back. Elder Scrolls VI, the next chapter in the critically-acclaimed series, is in the pre-production stage, Bethesda Game Studios announced during the E3 2018 conference on Sunday. The team hinted that the game could come to a potential PlayStation 5 and next-generation Xbox.

Bethesda executive producer Todd Howard closed the company’s presentation with a look at two new games set to launch “beyond this year, in the future.” He proceeded to introduce Starfield as “a brand new, next-generation single player game,” comments that have led to speculation that Bethesda is targeting its first new franchise in 25 years for the successors to the PS4 and Xbox One. He then introduced “the game after that,” before playing a teaser for the followup to 2011’s The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, suggesting that the title may also come under this “next generation” description.

Adding fuel to the fire are comments from Microsoft head of the Xbox division Phil Spencer, who stated during the company’s Sunday presentation at the show that “the same team that delivered unprecedented performance with Xbox One X is deep into architecting the next Xbox consoles.” It’s possible that Bethesda was referring more to a new generation of internal company technology than a game targeted for the next generation of consoles, but Spencer’s comments suggest the industry is starting to consider the successors to the PS4 and Xbox One that launched in 2013.

Skyrim was a gaming sensation, receiving widespread praise on initial release. The game was later ported to the Xbox One and PS4 in 2016, also launching in a virtual reality-focused edition for PSVR in the same year. The following year, Bethesda released the game for the Nintendo Switch. The company jokingly referenced the slew of special editions over the years by introducing a “very special edition” for the voice-controlled Amazon Echo.

Eyes are now on Sony’s conference, set to start Monday at 6 p.m. Pacific time, to see whether the company follows in Microsoft’s footsteps and drops hints about any potential successors to the PS4 or future plans for the console.

It was an action-packed show for Bethesda, which also used the conference to announce the release date for Fallout 76 and more details about Rage 2.