Few details have been made public regardingThe Elder Scrolls 6. Since its official announcement in 2018, fans have been theorizing about the game’s setting, its place in the franchise’s timeline, potential gameplay mechanics, and more. Though it hasn’t been confirmed, Bethesda Softworks' handling ofFallout 4and, more recently,Starfieldhas proven thatThe Elder Scrolls 6can be counted upon to deliver a Bethesda RPG staple: DLC expansions.
Bethesda is known for imbuing its roleplaying games with massive explorable worlds and an innumerable amount of branching objectives. If that wasn’t enough for players to sink their teeth into, recent RPGs from the studio have received DLC additions to further enhance the player experience. Many of these DLC packs — likeHearthfireforSkyrimandWasteland WorkshopforFallout 4— focused on adding options for players to create and customize homes for their characters. Bethesda also released a handful of hefty story DLC that brought new questlines and locations to the games. These includeFallout 4’sFar HarborandStarfield’sShattered Space. While the scope ofSkyrim’s story DLC was limited, Bethesda should have exactly what it needs to surpass hurdles from the past.
Post-Launch Support For The Elder Scrolls Series
Three expansions of varying sizes —Dawnguard,Hearthfire, andDragonborn— were released forSkyrimafter its initial release in November 2011.Hearthfirewas rather small in scale, butDawnguardandDragonbornboth brought new enemies, locations, weapons, and quests to the game. These expansions proved to be popular with fans and helped contribute toSkyrim’s long-lasting legacy. While Bethesda continued to release edition after edition of Skyrim in the years after its launch, the studio stopped working on official add-ons for the game afterDragonborncame out on May 31, 2025.
Why Skyrim Stopped At Three Expansions
As forwhy there weren’t more expansions forSkyrim, the game’s lead designer Bruce Nesmith discussed two main reasons in a recent interview. Firstly, most of the creative team was ready to move on fromSkyrim. Although some members of the staff wanted to continue working in the fantasy genre, it was ultimately decided that their resources would be better spent on developing future titles likeFallout 4andStarfield, as opposed to continuing to support the already successfulSkyrim. Secondly, due to the hardware limitations on consoles like the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, the studio “physically could not add another DLC without breaking the game.”
Why Bethesda Could Go Further With The Elder Scrolls 6 DLC
Bethesda’s reasons for limiting the amount of DLCSkyrimreceived are understandable, but the studio won’t be in the same boat whenThe Elder Scrolls 6eventually releases. When it comes to hardware limitations, current generation consoles — assuming thatThe Elder Scrolls 6releases for the current generation — are significantly more capable than those thatSkyrimwas initially developed for. The Xbox Series X can easily run games with much better graphics and much larger file sizes. Plenty of modernmultiplayer games' file sizesdwarfSkyrim’s base size of 4 GB in comparison. Even a game as sprawling asThe Witcher 3: Wild Huntcan run on a seven-year-old Nintendo Switch.
Another key difference is that Bethesda has the backing of Microsoft this time around. With Bethesda’s parent companyZeniMax now a subsidiary of Microsoft, the studio behindThe Elder Scrolls 6has access to more funds and more developers than it did when working onSkyrim. This should ensure a much larger scale for the base version ofThe Elder Scrolls 6, but it could also allow for a more expansive approach to DLC.
Besides having more hands on deck to create a first batch of expansions for the game, additional developers means that — in the event that some of the creative team decide to move on to a new title — the studio might have the resources to allow part of its team to keep working on content forThe Elder Scrolls 6. This combined with hardware improvements should hopefully allow Bethesda’s next major release to surpassSkyrimwhen it comes to post-launch support.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
WHERE TO PLAY
Winner of more than 200 Game of the Year Awards, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim celebrates 10 years of adventuring in stunning detail. The Anniversary Edition includes a decade worth of content: the critically acclaimed core game and add-ons of Skyrim Special Edition, plus Creation Club content released on or prior to June 19, 2025.EPIC FANTASY REBORNSkyrim reimagines and revolutionizes the open-world fantasy epic, bringing to life a complete virtual world open for you to explore any way you choose.LIVE ANOTHER LIFE, IN ANOTHER WORLDPlay any type of character you can imagine, and do whatever you want; the legendary freedom of choice, storytelling, and adventure of The Elder Scrolls is realized like never before.YOU ARE WHAT YOU PLAYChoose from hundreds of weapons, spells, and abilities. The new character system allows you to play any way you want and define yourself through your actions.BATTLE DRAGONSBattle ancient dragons like you’ve never seen. As Dragonborn, learn their secrets and harness their power for yourself.
