The Elder Scrolls 6 gets disappointing update from Xbox chief

It's good news/bad news for Bethesda's highly anticipated RPG

In a controversial day for Xbox, after recently appointed CEO Asha Sharma warned of incoming personnel cuts, almost killing all the goodwill the company accrued during Sunday's Xbox Games Showcase, chief content officer Matt Booty did the only thing that could distract fans: He mentioned The Elder Scrolls 6. Unfortunately, reading between the lines of the usual corporate lingo and word salad that says a lot without saying anything, the conclusion is an unfortunate one: Bethesda Game Studios' much-anticipated game is not coming anytime soon.

In an interview with Variety, Booty addressed several hot topics, including Xbox's return to exclusive games with Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution, the console's upcoming 25th anniversary this November, and his partnership with Sharma. The most intriguing answer came when the interviewer asked the inevitable question about The Elder Scrolls 6 and the game's absence from the Games Showcase. Here is Booty's full response:

"I would say one of the more challenging balancing acts of someone in a job like mine is balancing that you want to go show the world all the cool stuff you’re working on, and you want to get them excited early, but we also know that we want to wait till the right moment. And when you decide to show it, you want it to be the best you’ve got. And also that when you show the game, you’re also giving them a promise of, hey, it’s coming soon. So I can tell you, having visited Bethesda and sat with Todd and seen “Elder Scrolls” playing, it looks amazing, and it’s coming along well. And we’ll make sure to announce it and really reveal it at the right time."

Booty confirmed what we already knew: The game is playable and Bethesda keeps working on it. In an interview with IGN last March, Bethesda's director Todd Howard said that "the builds of the game are really consistently working," and "the bulk of the studio is on it." However, Booty also mentioned that Xbox is going to show the game only when they can promise fans that it's coming soon, so its absence from the Games Showcase means that isn't the case. "Playable" as the game might be, it's not at a stage where the company feels confident about making promises.

Meanwhile, fans are understandably concerned about Sharma and Booty's message sent to Xbox employees globally, ominously titled "Next 100 Days: Xbox Reset." It paints a bleak picture of a division overwhelmed by bad investments, the rising price of components, and an overextended studio system. While this isn't stated in the message, the takeaway is that severe cuts are on the horizon.

It's unlikely that any eventual cuts will affect the team working on The Elder Scrolls 6, but it's also unlikely that the game's release will be announced in the near future. While we wait, let's watch its first and only trailer for the millionth time.