Xbox CEO teases The Elder Scrolls 6's title and praises the game's scale and story

Published Aug 12, 2026, 5:11 AM EDT

Shortly after being appointed Xbox CEO, Sharma tried to curry favor with players by promising to "recommit to our core Xbox fans and players." She lowered the price of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and halted the integration of Copilot AI into Xbox consoles and apps. However, most of the goodwill she earned was lost in July 2026, when Xbox announced the most significant restructure in its history, which included cutting 3,200 jobs. The Elder Scrolls series developer Bethesda Softworks was also affected by the cuts, but in theory at least, this should not impact work on The Elder Scrolls 6.

Sharma's post was probably meant to reassure fans that one of the most anticipated games of the decade is still on track. Bethesda is also working on its other big franchise, Fallout, with Fallout 5 currently in preproduction, but The Elder Scrolls 6 remains the studio's main focus. And now, we can try to guess what the game's full title will be.

The censored word in Sharma's post, then picked up by Bethesda's own account, is eight letters long. Except for the first game in the series, The Elder Scrolls: Arena, all games have been named after locations in the world of Tamriel (or outside of it, in Oblivion's case). Fans and TES lore scholars are thus theorizing what that mysterious eight-letter word could be. The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages, the largest online repository for Elder Scrolls lore and knowledge, put out an interesting list of options through its X account:

My personal pick in this list is Sentinel, the capital city of Hammerfell, one of the regions where the game is speculated to take place. Dominion would also be a pretty catchy name for the game, and it would refer to the Aldmeri Dominion, the powerful union of elves that's been causing trouble for everyone in Tamriel in the last couple of games.

Whatever the name ends up being, it's clear that Xbox is betting heavily on The Elder Scrolls 6. The company has two main challenges ahead: fixing its finances and retaining the support of its loyal player base. A new Bethesda masterpiece could help with both, but there's a small issue: The Elder Scrolls 6 isn't coming anytime soon. The most recent reports indicate that the game is at least two more years away, and it's not like the layoffs have left the developer completely unaffected. Speaking anonymously to IGN, one Bethesda employee expressed fear that the current staff could be "replaced by cheaper, contracted labor," resulting in more delays, "and we'll need to crunch to make up the time."

Can a game with "incredible scale and grandeur" be rushed through development to save Xbox? Only Asha Sharma and Todd Howard know the answer.