'The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion'
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has given fans of The Elder Scrolls their clearest sign of life from Bethesda Game Studios’ long-awaited sequel in years, along with an eight-character puzzle the community believes it has already cracked.
In a post on X on Aug. 11, Sharma revealed she had watched the game in action during a visit to the studio, writing, “Live playthrough of The Elder Scrolls VI: ******** this morning.” She went on to praise the role-playing game’s scale and grandeur and said its story was even more impressive. Bethesda Game Studios thanked Sharma for the visit and repeated the same eight asterisks, reinforcing the idea that the placeholder was hiding a real subtitle. The post drew millions of views within hours.
The tease stands out because Bethesda has shared almost nothing about The Elder Scrolls VI since unveiling it with a brief teaser at E3 in June 2018. The studio spent the following years finishing Starfield, which launched in 2023. While many observers believe Sharma watched a developer play rather than taking the controls herself, the mention of a “live playthrough” suggests the game has reached a stage where substantial portions can be shown in real time. Bethesda said in 2024 that internal teams were already playing early builds of the game.
Fans quickly began counting letters, and one candidate has risen above the rest: Sentinel.
The theory gained traction after a Reddit user pointed to a detail hidden in Starfield‘s character creator since its launch. An employee number there, 190514-2009140512, spells “SENTINEL” when each pair of digits is converted to its corresponding letter of the alphabet. In series lore, Sentinel is a major coastal city in Hammerfell, the desert province many fans have long suspected will serve as the sequel’s setting based on the 2018 teaser.
The theory got another boost from Michael Kirkbride, a former Bethesda writer and artist who worked on The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. When a Reddit post floated Sentinel as the hidden word, Kirkbride replied simply, “Yep.” Kirkbride left the studio years ago, however, and Bethesda has not confirmed any title.
Other eight-letter guesses are still circulating, including Redguard, Dominion, Cyrodiil and High Rock. Hammerfell itself, at 10 letters, does not fit.
A release still appears to be years away. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier said this summer that the game remains at least two to three years out, while Windows Central’s Jez Corden has pointed to a 2028 or 2029 launch. Bethesda has not announced a release window or confirmed platforms, though Microsoft’s ownership of the studio has kept the question of Xbox exclusivity alive.
Studio head Todd Howard said in late 2025 that The Elder Scrolls VI had become Bethesda Game Studios’ main development priority, and earlier this year described it as a “classic Bethesda” RPG in the vein of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Howard has also acknowledged regrets about revealing the game so early.
For fans who have waited nearly 15 years since Skyrim arrived in November 2011, relying largely on expansions for The Elder Scrolls Online in the meantime, eight asterisks are the most concrete hint they have received in a long time.
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