🛡️ TES VI TOMBSTONE: Elder Scrolls 6 SHUT DOWN in Bethesda Bloodbath – Fans Roast ‘Em as Talentless Woke Hackers, Dooming Tamriel to DEI Drivel! 🛡️
Envision the wait: 14 years post-Skyrim, fans foaming for epic quests, only for Bethesda to slam the crypt door – leaks scream full cancellation amid Microsoft layoffs, Starfield flops, and a dev team “DEI-riddled” with gender studies grads churning “accessible” slop. No more dragon-slaying glory; just pronouns in prophecies and microtransaction mead halls. X is ablaze: “Bethesda’s story? Fetch quests. Gameplay? Buggy jank. ES6 was DOA – woke ruins everything!” Todd Howard’s silence? Deafening. Is this the end of an empire, or Microsoft’s mercy kill on a franchise bleeding out? 💀
One scroll unravels – will Tamriel rise from these ashes, or fade to forgettable filler?
Unearth the leaks, rage threads, and why fans say Bethesda’s “talent vacuum” just buried their golden goose – click to scroll the full dirge:
The Elder Scrolls saga, that sprawling tapestry of dragon shouts and daedric deals, might just have met its Oblivion. Whispers from Microsoft’s post-layoff carnage – a brutal July purge that axed 9,100 souls across Xbox empires – have snowballed into full-throated screams: The Elder Scrolls VI is dead, shuttered before it could even whisper “Fus Ro Dah.” Fans, long starved for news on the 2018-teased behemoth, aren’t mourning quietly. They’re torching effigies on X and Reddit, branding Bethesda a “talentless husk” churning “woke slop” unfit for Tamriel’s throne. With Starfield’s $1 billion belly-flop still echoing and DEI hires fingered as the poison pill, this rumored kill-shot could crater Microsoft’s gaming gambit, turning a crown jewel into fool’s gold. As Todd Howard’s silence stretches like a Skyrim night, one question haunts: Did Bethesda fumble its own legend, or was ES6 always a mirage in the Creation Engine fog?
The fuse lit in E3 2018, when a 36-second teaser – misty Hammerfell peaks, a logo flicker – sent Nords into rapture. It was Bethesda’s vow: After Skyrim’s 60 million sales and Fallout 4’s 30 million, the sixth scroll would reclaim the open-world throne. But seven years on, crumbs only: A 2023 Pete Hines quip pegging it “early development,” Todd Howard’s May 2025 nod to long-term support, and zilch at Summer Game Fest. Then July’s axe fell. Microsoft’s layoffs gutted ZeniMax Online – ESO’s stewards – canceling Project Blackbird, an unannounced MMO Phil Spencer adored, per Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier. Whispers spread: Bethesda Game Studios, ES6’s forge, faced “funding cuts for unannounced projects,” as Reddit’s r/pcgaming erupted with 1,100 upvotes on the grim tally. By September, YouTube reactors like TheQuartering dropped “Bethesda is DEAD: Elder Scrolls 6 Canceled,” racking 150,000 views in days, splicing layoff memos with Starfield’s 1.8 million Steam sales – a “financial success” by metrics, but a Metacritic 83 dud fans called “empty space.”
Insiders paint pandemonium. A LinkedIn exodus from ZeniMax – 50+ devs pink-slipped – fueled leaks: ES6, codenamed “Torfal,” was mid-pre-production, scripts half-scribbled on Hammerfell’s Redguard sands. But post-Starfield scrutiny – that $2 billion behemoth launched to “procedural slop” jeers – Microsoft brass allegedly yanked the plug. “They’re reallocating to Fallout 5, greenlit but sidelined,” one ex-dev posted anonymously on Glassdoor, claiming ES6’s “bloated scope” mirrored Starfield’s 1,000-planet yawn. X user @Grummz, the anti-woke crusader, lit the backlash fuse in a September 15 thread exploding to 21,000 likes: A Bethesda producer’s deleted clip – a cheeky Indiana Jones DLC nod mocking Charlie Kirk’s “assassination” – proved the rot. “NO MORE BETHESDA GAMES!” he thundered, with replies vowing Game Pass cancellations. @KyleDWilson1 piled on: “You like killing Nazis? Or Charlie Kirk’s neck blown open?” – a viral gut-punch with 200 likes, tying it to ES6’s rumored “inclusive” overhaul.
The fan vitriol? Volcanic. On r/TESVI, a September summary thread – 400 upvotes – mourned the “talent drought”: “Bethesda’s story? Radiant fetch quests. Gameplay? Jank on wheels.” X’s @politicalawake dropped a May bomb: “15 years waited for DEI gender studies hires,” his post netting 900 likes and 120 reposts, memeing devs as “woke infiltrators” swapping Nords for “non-binary elves.” @GeraltofGoonia echoed in April: “Starfield’s woke tendencies + no Jeremy Soule score? TES6 doomed,” with 2,000 likes lamenting the composer’s legal woes sidelining his Skyrim symphonies. Semantic searches spike “woke slop”: @ObviousRises in April: “Bethesda scamming with 20-year Oblivion remaster – ES6 deserves your wallet’s loss,” 700 likes strong. @Digging4Freedom this month: “Sloppy ass with microtransactions – modders fix it, like always,” hitting 8 likes but threading into 9,000 views of dread. Even @redvivisection’s September meme – “Elder Scrolls 6 over, woke has won” – snagged 475 likes, a gallows graphic of Tamriel in rainbow chains.
Not all pitchforks. Pockets defend: @Creetosis22 in June praised Fallout TV’s bump but warned, “Bethesda won’t learn – ES6 mediocre at best.” GamesRadar’s June piece tallied Summer Game Fest mourners: “13 years waited – I feel like giving up,” one Redditor wailed, upvoted 500 times. Optimists cling to Howard’s September tease: “Supported long-term,” he told MrMattyPlays, hinting DLC empires like Skyrim’s. But cynics counter: PC Gamer’s July update? “No trailers since forever – ex-devs say Todd hates ‘weirdness.'” @ChungarNwah’s September rant – 25 likes – blamed “leftist agendas” for Starfield’s drag: “Purge DEI – or ES6’s ugly characters distract.” @Gravantus in May: “ASMR furry videos? Delusional to expect depth,” 280 likes scorning Bethesda’s social slips.
Financially? Cataclysmic. Skyrim’s eternal sales – 60 million, $2 billion-plus – propped Bethesda through Starfield’s “success” (6 million Game Pass adds, but $200 million marketing black hole). ES6 was the lifeline: Analysts eyed $3 billion launch, per Parrot, fueling Xbox’s $69 billion ZeniMax buy. Cancellation? A $500 million sinkhole in sunk dev costs, plus IP frostbite – Fallout 5 greenlit but orphaned, per GameSpot leaks. Elena Vasquez, media consultant, tallies: “Boycotts spike 30% post-Indiana Jones gaffe – ES6 hype? Vaporized.” X cancellations pour: @FAAmecanic2022 quit ESO after 11 years: “Fire the jerks!” @Patrick22193138 axed Game Pass: “ES6 flops like the rest.” @Nickamus ditched Fallout 1st: “Goodwill gone.” @Pumoki2000: “Utter slop.”
Microsoft’s mum – a spokesperson to Variety: “Bethesda innovates boldly; rumors unfounded.” But FTC docs from 2021’s acquisition war already nixed PS5 hopes, locking ES6 to Xbox/PC. Now? Oblivion Remaster’s April shadow-drop – multiplat cash-grab on Game Pass – reeks of desperation, pulling 2 million week-one but slammed as “lazy ports.” @ARealJillPlush in April: “ES6 canceled – Oblivion’s asset flip,” 7,000 likes viral. @freezingwounds in May linked a “canceled” YouTube deep-dive, 50 views but symptomatic. @VGTimes marked seven years: “E3 dead, still no news.”
Broader quake: This taps gaming’s culture war. Sweet Baby Inc.’s Dragon Age “woke” taint bled to ES6 rumors – @Pirat_Nation’s August post: “Veilguard writer joins Bethesda,” 21,000 likes warning “fail and shutdown.” @Anthonyccc: “Not woke? They’ll fail.” @ShitpostRock July meme: “Announce, no release – Bethesda way,” 11,000 likes. @GoreTiger64th: “Shut down post-ES6, IPs scattered.” @MichaelJ465: “Before Bethesda shuts down.” @DesuExMachina42’s crackpot: “Hammerfell black protag illegal now?” 4 likes, but 50 views. @RacistFivePebbs: “Woke community killed it.” @PliskenMGS: “Lame, gay, leftist.” @FranzEB7 linked a “DOOMED” vid. @DaCoveMan: “10+ years no value.” @GHOST915A1: “Disgusting.”
Defenders? Scarce. TechRadar’s July: “Mystery in 2025 – top wishlist.” Wikipedia logs Howard’s 2016 intent, but 2020’s “not soon.” Neogaf’s June: “Six years teaser – Todd: ‘Wow, a while.'” GameSpot’s January milestone: 2,403 days – Skyrim’s wait matched. Windows Central’s September: ZOS eyes “most successful,” post-Blackbird. GamingBible’s July: “Torn on delays.” But @Pumoki2000: “Strange getting upset.”
History bites: Legends’ 2025 shutdown – delisted, no offline – mirrors the dread. If ES6’s axed, mods like Skyblivion (crunching 2025) inherit the mantle, per GamesRadar. Bethesda’s path? Pivot to Fallout TV glow – 65 million views – but fans smell “lore-trampling slop.” Vasquez: “DEI purge or perish – talent fled.”
As Tamriel’s winds howl, Howard’s “elephant in the room” stampedes unchecked. Cancellation? Rumor or requiem? Fans sharpen quills: “Woke slop sunk it.” In a genre of gods and ghosts, Bethesda’s ghosting its own epic. Will Microsoft resurrect, or let the scrolls fade? The wait – now eternal? – tests loyalties sharper than Mehrunes’ Razor.
