Bethesda names The Elder Scrolls VI as Sentinel, with no release date or gameplay yet

A name after eight years

Bethesda Game Studios has named the next entry in its long-running role-playing series The Elder Scrolls VI: Sentinel. The name was revealed on 3 November 2026 in a video celebrating the studio's 40th anniversary, an under-ten-minute piece that ended with a short teaser. The reveal closes an eight-year wait that began when Bethesda confirmed on 10 June 2018 that work had started on the sixth game. Fans had expected the name for months, after Xbox CEO Asha Sharma referred to the game in August as 'The Elder Scrolls VI: ********', a placeholder whose length matched Sentinel. The reveal also comes 15 years after The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was released.

What the teaser shows

The teaser contains no gameplay. The camera pans over sand before a magic-looking scroll emerges and the title appears. Todd Howard, Bethesda's creative director, framed the moment around fan questions.

“Everybody's always asking about Elder Scrolls 6. And we thought, hey, given the moment, what a perfect time to tell you what The Elder Scrolls 6 is actually called.”

The accompanying text is written as in-game lore by Yazar, a Moth Priest to High Queen Iradne of Hammerfell, and describes a glimpse of a future lost and a victory undone. Bethesda has not explained how the scrolls will feature in the plot, although speculation suggests they will play a central role. The video also appears to hint that the game may explore the ancient origins of the Elder Scrolls.

Setting and timing

Hammerfell appears to be the setting. Sentinel is a city in that province in series lore, and Engadget believes it will be the main setting of the game. Bethesda's follow-up post on X seemingly confirmed the location, though the studio gave no further details. Reports put the story in 4E 206, five years after the events of Skyrim. Hammerfell has previously appeared in The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard and The Elder Scrolls Online.

The key dates leading to the reveal are shown below.

What remains unknown

Bethesda has shown no gameplay and has announced neither a release window nor a platform plan. Whether the game will be exclusive to Xbox remains open, as the company is reportedly still weighing its strategy. Bloomberg's Jason Schreier says the game is more than two years away. A fuller presentation could come at the Xbox Games Showcase in 2027, though nothing is confirmed. The studio is also reportedly working on remasters of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas and a new franchise project with Obsidian.

In its follow-up post, the studio said:

“Development continues, and while it'll be some time before we're ready to share more, it feels great to finally reveal the name and location with you.”

For now the name and the location are the only confirmed details, and the studio says it will be 'some time' before it shares more.