The same morning Xbox CEO Asha Sharma sat inside Bethesda Game Studios' Rockville, Maryland headquarters watching a live playthrough of The Elder Scrolls VI, union members were outside the building inflating a giant rat.
That contrast tells you everything about where Xbox finds itself right now: sitting on what its own CEO is calling an incredible game, while the workforce that built the studio's reputation is still processing 1,600 job cuts.
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What Sharma actually said
Sharma posted her impressions on X after the visit, writing: "Live playthrough of The Elder Scrolls VI: ******** this morning. The scale and grandeur are incredible. The story is even greater." Bethesda Game Studios replied using the same eight-asterisk redaction in place of the game's presumed subtitle, which has sent fans into overdrive trying to reverse-engineer those eight characters into something that fits.
The post hit 2.5 million views quickly. Here's the thing, though: nobody outside that room knows how far along the build Sharma actually saw. A milestone presentation shown to executives is very different from a polished vertical slice, and Bethesda has been careful not to say which it was.
This is not the first time a senior Xbox figure has made quiet encouraging noises about the game. Xbox Chief Content Officer Matt Booty told press in June that he had visited Bethesda and seen "Elder Scrolls playing" with Todd Howard, calling it amazing and saying it was "coming along well." Booty also acknowledged the tension in teasing a game too early, noting the challenge of "balancing that you want to go show the world all the cool stuff you're working on" against waiting for the right moment.
The Elder Scrolls VI has had exactly one public-facing moment since it was announced: a brief landscape teaser trailer that dropped in 2018. Eight years of silence, and the loudest signal fans have gotten is a string of asterisks.
The rat outside the building
Communications Workers of America members timed their demonstration to coincide with Sharma's visit. The setup included a giant inflatable rat and a wall of red flags representing laid-off Xbox workers, positioned directly outside Bethesda's offices.
The protest connects directly to the 1,600 workers cut from Xbox studios earlier this year. One id Software developer, speaking on a recent podcast, reportedly said Xbox "doesn't understand art" or games, which is about as blunt as internal criticism gets when it goes public.
Xbox and Bethesda have both maintained that The Elder Scrolls VI's development is not affected by the cuts. Whether that reassurance lands with the people who were let go is a different matter entirely.
Oblivion Remastered on Switch 2 adds to a busy week
All of this landed in the same week Bethesda shipped The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered to Nintendo Switch 2 on August 11, 2026. The port is priced at $49.99 digital and $59.99 for the physical Deluxe edition, consistent with other platform pricing. Early testing found it generally playable, a better result than pre-release leaked footage had suggested, though the open-world traversal stutter that has followed the game across every platform for over a year is still present on Switch 2.
For players who already own Oblivion Remastered on PC or another console, the Switch 2 version offers portability and not much else. There is no cross-save support, so starting over is the only option.
The bigger picture here is what Oblivion Remastered's continued commercial momentum says about appetite for the franchise. Fans have been playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in some form for nearly 15 years. The demand for a new mainline RPG games entry is not a question anyone needs to debate.
Where this leaves Elder Scrolls fans
Sharma's post is the most direct signal from Xbox leadership that The Elder Scrolls VI is in a state worth showing off. That matters, even if it comes with no release window, no subtitle, and no screenshots. The 2018 teaser was a promise. Executives watching live playthroughs and calling the story "even greater" than the scale suggests something that at least has a story to show.
The asterisks will keep the subtitle theories running for weeks. And the protest outside Bethesda's door is a reminder that the people building these games exist in a very different reality than the executive floor previewing them.
If you are deep in the wait and need something to fill the time, the The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim guide collection has you covered until Bethesda decides the right moment has finally arrived.
