'Elephant in the Room' 9 Years Later, Todd Howard's First…

The Elder Scrolls 6 is without a doubt one of the most anticipated upcoming games, but the problem is that it has now been upcoming for nearly a decade — nearly 14 years if Skyrim's initial launch date counts toward that streak. At this point, it's encroaching on Grand Theft Auto 6 territory, which was only just confirmed to be in development in 2022 but now has almost a 12-year gap between it and its predecessor. The biggest difference between The Elder Scrolls 6 and Grand Theft Auto 6, however, is that the former was actually confirmed to be in development by Todd Howard over 9 years ago.

In a June 2016 interview with Geoff Keighley during YouTube's Live at E3 stream, director Todd Howard acknowledged the "elephant in the room," that being whether Bethesda was currently working on The Elder Scrolls 6. Since then, that quote has achieved a level of infamy that has perhaps only ever been matched by Valve's ability to count to three. To be fair, he did emphasize that it was still "a very long way off," but an elephant in the room it nonetheless is, as the only clear sign of its existence is a 37-second teaser trailer that is now over 7 years old.

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By Emma Neeson

The Wait for The Elder Scrolls 6 Continues

Todd Howard Was Right to Be Cautionary About The Elder Scrolls 6

Maybe The Elder Scrolls 6 wasn't formally announced until its teaser trailer debuted at E3 2018, but formalities are really the only difference between that and Todd Howard's words on the game's development in 2016. Whether he considers it a foot-in-mouth moment is ultimately between him and the rest of Bethesda, but the news rang out on that fateful day regardless, and it couldn't be reversed. Thus, The Elder Scrolls 6 was confirmed to be in development on June 13, 2016, and thankfully, that was a Thursday and not a Friday — otherwise, The Elder Scrolls 6 might have actually been cursed from the get-go.

Even so, Todd Howard was clearly right to be cautionary about The Elder Scrolls 6, calling it the "elephant in the room" because he knew it was on everyone's minds at the time, and then ensuring the timeframe for its release was kept as broad as possible. However, it's hard to believe that anyone anticipated that gap would be as wide as 9 years, and again, 14 if Skyrim's initial launch counts. After all, whether The Elder Scrolls 6 was outright confirmed to be in development or not in 2011, the massive success of Skyrim served as a confirmation of sorts that there would be much more to come from the famed RPG franchise.

The Elder Scrolls 6 Is Now a Fully-Grown Elephant

Well, now that elephant has matured and grown into a massive, towering monolith bigger than the Paintress' in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. It has officially expanded beyond the confines of the home where it was once considered a pet capable of being domesticated, and now it's stampeding around the house, making its presence known with every step. It's impossible to ignore and too big not to talk about, and yet, no one knows what it looks like. Is it pink? Is it purple? Is it indeed set in Hammerfell as the rumors and speculations suggest?

Todd Howard was clearly right to be cautionary about The Elder Scrolls 6, calling it the "elephant in the room" because he knew it was on everyone's minds at the time, and then ensuring the timeframe for its release was kept as broad as possible.

It's too soon to tell, which is ironic, considering Todd Howard didn't necessarily think 2016 was too soon to tell. Fast-forward to today, and his most recent confirmation during the Oblivion Remastered reveal essentially said the same thing: it's being worked on. Nevertheless, at least there has still been no news that The Elder Scrolls 6 has been canceled, and since a release window hasn't been confirmed, it's not subject to delays either — fingers crossed.

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