Elder Scrolls 6 Not Coming To PS5 And Won't Release Until 2026 At The Soonest, Microsoft Says

18.09.2023 - 17:33 / gamespot.com / Todd Howard / Phil Spencer / Eddie Makuch / Stephen Totilo

Microsoft paid $7.5 billion to buy ZeniMax, so it's no big surprise that the company would prioritize its own console platform.

By Eddie Makuch on

Documents from Microsoft's legal case with the FTC have emerged online, and one key slide shows that Microsoft has no plans to bring The Elder Scrolls VI to PlayStation.

A page from the proceedings obtained by Stephen Totilo shows a breakdown of games and supported platforms, with The Elder Scrolls VI listing as being in development for Xbox and PC--but not PlayStation. The document also shows that The Elder Scrolls VI will be released in 2026 at the soonest and that it will not have multiplayer support.

Another document recently made available shows that Microsoft informed the FTC in September 2022 that The Elder Scrolls VI «may be released only on Xbox and PC.»

From Microsoft's responses in the FTC vs Microsoft case. Elder Scrolls VI listed here as Xbox and PC and releasing 2026 or later.
During testimony at the hearing, Xbox's Phil Spencer went on to say the game was at least five years out and platforms were technically TBD pic.twitter.com/Kto9bE5U8C

This revelation about The Elder Scrolls VI should not come as much of a surprise. After all, Microsoft made Starfield exclusive to Xbox and PC after buying ZeniMax, so it's only fitting that the company's next game would follow a similar playbook. Game director Todd Howard recently spoke about why Starfield is a better game because it didn't come to PlayStation.

Microsoft's documentation and words spoken by Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer do not match up exactly. Spencer was recently quoted as saying the company determines platform availability for its games on a case-by-case basis, as opposed to stating outright that the game is not expected to come to PlayStation 5.

In June as part of the Microsoft-FTC court case, Spencer said the platforms for The Elder Scrolls VI are not yet decided, in part because the game's release is so far off.

«With Elder Scrolls VI, it's so far out--it's hard to understand what platforms will even be at this point,» Spencer said. «It's the same team that's finishing Starfield, which comes out this September. So we're talking about a game that's like five-plus years away.»

Microsoft is working on new Xbox hardware, and the next console generation could begin in 2028, so it's possible that The Elder Scrolls VI shows up on whatever the next Xbox turns out to be.

The Elder Scrolls VI was announced in June 2018, and in the five-plus years since, Bethesda has not said much. Howard recently discussed how the game might have been announced too soon. After years of pre-production, The Elder Scrolls VI is now officially in development.

After The Elder Scrolls VI, Bethesda will make Fallout 5.

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