The Elder Scrolls 6 is still “five-plus years away”

The Elder Scrolls 6 is unlikely to release for at least “five-plus” years.

That’s according to Xbox boss Phil Spencer, who recently confirmed that the latest instalment of the highly-anticipated RPG series was still “five-plus years away”.

As reported by Axios’ Stephen Totilo – who had been live-tweeting the outcomes from day two of the US antitrust agency the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)/Microsoft court case all yesterday – Spencer was “asked a lot” about how Microsoft decides platform exclusivity, with much of the questioning framed around Bethesda’s parent company, ZeniMax.

When questioned directly about Elder Scrolls 6, Spencer reportedly said he “didn’t even know which Microsoft platforms it’d be on”, adding: “It’s so far out it’s hard to understand what the platforms will even be”.

“We’re talking about a game that’s five-plus years away,” Spencer reportedly said. Totilo added that the Xbox boss was “fuzzy on whether he previously made a public statement saying it’d be Xbox-only”.

According to TheGamer, Spencer also confirmed that The Elder Scrolls 6 will be developed by “the same team that’s finishing Starfield”.

When asked how the megacorp selects platforms for its first-party games, Spencer said it was done on a “case-by-case” basis when it came to PC and Xbox, with other platforms “decided after”.

Microsoft is currently set to appeal the CMA’s surprise decision with the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal in a hearing expected to take place in July. The FTC isn’t due to hold its own internal hearing on the acquisition until 2nd August – the injunction is intended to block Microsoft from finalising the deal ahead of that time – but Microsoft has indicated it could walk away from the acquisition if the FTC’s injunction is granted.

Microsoft recently said it had “lost the console wars” in court papers filed ahead of its legal battle with the Federal Trade Commission.