Bethesda Gives Small Update On The Elder Scrolls 6 As Franchise Celebrates 30th Anniversary

Today, March 25, marks the 30th anniversary of the very first Elder Scrolls game, and Bethesda is celebrating the milestone with a message to fans and an update on how The Elder Scrolls VI's development is progressing. For anyone unaware, the very first Elder Scrolls game was The Elder Scrolls Arena, which released on March 25, 1994 on MS-DOS.

"It's amazing to think how much the series has grown, and how much it still means to everyone, and that is all thanks to you, our community of players," Bethesda said in a social media post.

Arena introduced the world of Tamriel to gamers, a location that future titles like Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim would return to over the years. Arena was designed and directed by Vijay Lakshman, who has since left Bethesda. Todd Howard worked on Arena and rose through the ranks to become one of the top bosses at Bethesda and key creative minds for the Elder Scrolls series and others within the company.

If you've never played Arena, the game--and Daggerfall--are free on ElderScrolls.com. You can grab the games for free using the links below:

• Arena
• Daggerfall

2024 also marks the 10th anniversary of The Elder Scrolls Online, the MMO from ZeniMax Online Studios. "Our amazing colleagues at ZeniMax Online Studios have nurtured a game and community that has become one of the biggest and best there is."

Looking ahead, Bethesda has multiple new Elder Scrolls games in the works, including the mobile game The Elder Scrolls Castles that is currently available through a soft-launch in some markets.

The biggest upcoming Elder Scrolls game is The Elder Scrolls VI, which is now in development. Bethesda shared a very brief update on this game, saying, "Even now, returning to Tamriel and playing early builds has us filled with the same sense of joy, excitement, and promise of adventure."

The Elder Scrolls VI is Bethesda Game Studios' next big game, following the launch of Starfield in September 2023. The game is not expected to release until 2026 at the soonest. After The Elder Scrolls VI, Bethesda will make Fallout 5. Recently, it came to light that Howard told people working on the Fallout TV series to avoid certain topics because they would be covered in Fallout 5.