The Elder Scrolls VI finally has a full name: The Elder Scrolls VI: Sentinel. Bethesda made it official on November 3, with Xbox Wire publishing "The Elder Scrolls VI: Official Name Reveal" alongside the Sentinel logo.
The title itself won't surprise anyone who followed last month's reporting. Video Games Chronicle notes that players had widely expected the Sentinel name from rumours and leaks, and that The Verge had reported it would be confirmed as early as this month. What's new is that Bethesda is now saying it itself.
A reveal wrapped in an anniversary
The name arrived as part of Bethesda Game Studios' 40th birthday. According to VGC, it was revealed at the end of a video called "Celebrating 40 Years of Bethesda Game Studios", which closed on the game's logo. Gematsu lists both that anniversary video and a separate name reveal trailer.
In the anniversary video, VGC reports, executive producer Todd Howard looked back at the teams behind the studio's games and the players who spent time with them, and said the studio was "looking forward" too, especially to Fallout and The Elder Scrolls. Howard said fans kept asking about Elder Scrolls 6, so the studio used the anniversary to reveal the name, according to VGC.
The reveal leans on lore rather than footage. Gematsu reports that the teaser ends on a line attributed to Yazar, Moth Priest to High Queen Iradne of Hammerfell, dated 4E 206: "The scroll offered only a shimmer, a veil thinly lifted to my eyes," followed by "A future lost. A victory undone. Sands of time scattered by fate." RPG Site quotes the same Moth Priest line and the anniversary message, "For 40 years, we've explored new worlds, told unforgettable stories, and gone on incredible adventures together."
Bethesda Game Studios also posted a short statement on social media, quoted by Gematsu: "Development continues, and while it'll be some time before we're ready to share more, it feels great to finally reveal the name and location with you."
Still no date
That "some time" is doing a lot of work. Kotaku points out that the teaser came without a release date, roughly eight years after Bethesda first announced the game, which Gematsu dates to 2018. None of the reports cited here lists platforms or a release window for the game either.
That 2018 announcement was a short teaser at Bethesda's E3 2018 showcase, and until today the game didn't even have a subtitle.
Is it Hammerfell?
Bethesda Game Studios' post mentions a "location", and the teaser's closing line comes from a Moth Priest to the High Queen of Hammerfell, but neither spells out the setting in plain words. VGC says the name supports reports that the game is set in Hammerfell, a province previously seen in The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, The Elder Scrolls Online and the 1998 PC game The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard. Sentinel is a region within Hammerfell, VGC adds, and the title also fits fan theories about Iliac Bay, the body of water separating High Rock and Hammerfell. VGC is clear that further details haven't been confirmed.
One former insider has already picked a side. VGC notes that Bruce Nesmith, lead designer on Skyrim, said last month that he hoped the Iliac Bay theory was true, suggesting it could bring boats and naval exploration to the series for the first time.
Mason's take: My read is that this was a reveal about pacing, not just a name. Bethesda tied Sentinel to a studio birthday rather than a showcase, showed a logo and a few lines of lore, and said plainly that more will take "some time". That suggests a studio that wants to answer the most-asked question without starting a marketing campaign it isn't ready to sustain. Fans got their name. They shouldn't read it as a sign that a date is around the corner.
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