The Elder Scrolls: Valenwood Will Keep You Busy Till The Elder Scrolls 6

Published Aug 21, 2026, 12:00 AM EDT

Tom Wilson is a Gaming Features Writer at Screen Rant. Over the past five years, Tom has worked as the Editor-in-Chief at The Game Crater, as a Staff Writer for GamingIntel, a List Writer at TheGamer, and, of course, as a Senior Writer at ScreenRant. Tom has experience writing reviews, guides, news, and features, and has been responsible for teams of writers, training them and editing their work.

Tom graduated with a Masters in Multimedia Journalism, and has since gone on to build up his portfolio of games journalism work.

Sign in to your ScreenRant account

With little to no news about The Elder Scrolls VI being announced by Bethesda, beyond some vague reporting that development is going well, it is clear that fans shouldn't expect it to launch any time soon. That has, of course, always been the assumption, and likely will be right up until the day it actually launches, but it is no less frustrating as a result. Fortunately, while fans have eagerly awaited even a sliver of news surrounding Bethesda's next big RPG, there have been a handful of official Elder Scrolls projects released.

Alongside the confirmation that an Elder Scrolls 6 gameplay demo is out there in the wild, fans have also been treated to news of other upcoming Elder Scrolls-related projects that they can tangibly play long before Bethesda even confirms its upcoming game's official title. These include The Elder Scrolls: Valenwood, a brand-new game that brings players to the legendary region equipped with all-new characters, quests, and landmarks to explore.

The Elder Scrolls: Valenwood isn't the first new Elder Scrolls game of 2026, but it may be one of its biggest. This is obviously great news for those who've been hoping for quite literally anything to come out of this criminally underutilized IP or have grown tired of the ever-expanding MMO, The Elder Scrolls Online. To be clear, Valenwood isn't another fan-made project, although they too are phenomenal and worth playing, but rather a full-blown official product that fans will be able to play soon.

The Elder Scrolls: Valenwood is an expansion for the incredibly expansive and immersive The Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era board game. For those who aren't aware of what is inarguably one of the best Elder Scrolls board games of all time, Betrayal of the Second Era is an expansive, Tamriel-hopping adventure board game for up to four players that sees them journey across iconic regions from The Elder Scrolls universe, completing quests, clearing dungeons, and progressing through a three-stage campaign.

The Elder Scrolls: Valenwood builds upon the base game, introducing a whole new map based on the Valenwood region, new equipment, enemies, and quests to be completed. More importantly, it also adds two new classes, Arcanist and Burglar, as well as the Security and Illusion skill lines, all of which greatly expand the scope for character builds and progression, two quintessential components of Betrayal of the Second Era's gameplay.

Of course, Valenwood requires the base game to be played, but if you love The Elder Scrolls and want a comparable experience to the video games set in a different era with its own story, quests, and more, then you should absolutely pick up Betrayal of the Second Era too. The Elder Scrolls: Valenwood costs $44.95 and can be pre-ordered from the official Chip Theory Games website. It is set to release in November 2026, which one can likely expect will still be years before The Elder Scrolls 6 gets its next official announcement.