Fallout 5 Release Date Update Officially Confirms What We All Suspected

Published Nov 4, 2026, 6:06 AM EST

James is a gaming writer from London who has spent thousands of hours exploring titles from every genre. Though he has a particular affinity for multiplayer titles like World of Warcraft, Destiny 2 and League of Legends, he has also put thousands of hours into single-player experiences, from deep RPGs to epic PC strategies. When he's not playing or writing, he can usually be found supporting his beloved Brentford FC.

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Back when Fallout 4 released in 2015, it would have been nearly impossible to believe that we weren't going to get another game in the series by the time 2027 rolled around. That is the unfortunate reality that we find ourselves in, though, and we still haven't seen anything from Bethesda that hints at where we're going next.

Though the Prime Video adaptation went some way to placating our need for new Fallout stories as a community, there's only so much it can do when the thing that everyone is really after is a new game. Now, there has been a tangential update that actually lets us know just how long we still have to wait to play new Fallout.

Unless you have been living under a rock-shaped object for the last few days, you likely will have seen that Bethesda finally broke cover and get fans a smidge of information about The Elder Scrolls VI. They confirmed that the long rumored subtitle Sentinel is, in fact, correct, and that also lets us know that we'll be heading back to Hammerfell for the next game.

They also dropped a one minute teaser that really didn't give too much more away, with what are presumably Alik'r desert dunes and a titular Elder Scroll with a blue jewel sealing it closed. It's all very Elder Scrolls, but as with so many announcements these days, the crushing inevitability of reality soon came home to roost.

Specifically, the reason the developer didn't show any of the game itself is because they are still a long way from getting it into players hands. As reported by PushSquare, Bloomberg journalist shared a post on BlueSky confirming that The Elder Scrolls VI is still a couple of years away:

"I think a lot of people forget that The Elder Scrolls VI was only announced in 2018 (along with Starfield) to soften the blow of Fallout 76 — 'Don't worry, even though we're making a multiplayer game we've got single-player stuff coming too!' Sorry to say this game is still more than 2 years away!"

What may not have been immediately obvious at the time of that revelation is that it's also terrible news for us Fallout fans who are sitting at home and patiently waiting. We know Bethesda is bringing us The Elder Scrolls VI first, which means Fallout 5 is going to be considerably further away than the couple of years being put forward as a release date for that.

Couple that in with the fact that Bethesda really only dialed up production on the next Fallout game at the start of the year, and it would be a monumental surprise if we're playing it before 2030 rolls around.

The only potential shoots of hope are the renewed priority placed on the series by Xbox head Asha Sharma (which could lead to additional funding to get it over the line quicker), and those remakes of Fallout 3 and New Vegas. Those have every chance of being ready sooner, so let's hope they can tide us over and give us something new to play, at the very least.