No, Bethesda isn't making a secret Elder Scrolls spin-off — the rumour was a LinkedIn misread

A rumour claiming Bethesda had an unannounced Elder Scrolls game in development turned out to be nothing — a misreading of a laid-off developer's LinkedIn bio sparked the speculation, and the developer himself has now shut it down.

The bio belonged to Griffin DeClaire, a former associate game designer at Bethesda who was caught up in Microsoft's recent wave of layoffs. His profile mentioned working on an "unreleased Elder Scrolls title," which some outlets and fans interpreted as evidence of a secret spin-off running alongside The Elder Scrolls 6. FRVR reached out to DeClaire directly, and he was unambiguous: "To clarify, the posting is about TESVI. I was working directly on TESVI everyday in-engine before being laid off. Quite tragic, I really loved the work and was looking forward to seeing the fan reaction."

The Elder Scrolls 6 was announced back in 2018 — a brief teaser trailer with almost no concrete details — and has been in development ever since. Bethesda has said developers "love how it looks" and "are playing it every day," but beyond that, virtually nothing is known about the game's setting, mechanics, or release window. Bethesda Game Studios is juggling a packed slate: Fallout 5 is in pre-production, Fallout 76 is still receiving updates, and Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas remasters are reportedly in the works with Bethesda involved.

For Elder Scrolls fans hoping for any surprise announcement, this is a dead end. The Elder Scrolls 6 remains the only game in that series confirmed to be in development, and given Bethesda's pace, it's still a long way off.