Looks like Elder Scrolls 6: Redfall might be back on track, as that trademark dispute is over

Update: Well, the trademark dispute over what could be Elder Scrolls 6 Redfall is finally over, with ZeniMax and BookBreeze having finally come to an agreement. They released a short statement today, which reads

"ZeniMax Media Inc. and Bookbreeze.com are pleased to announce that they have amicably resolved a pending trademark dispute related to the Redfall trademark," reads a short statement. While the specific terms of the agreement are confidential, the parties believe that resolution of the matter is mutually beneficial to both ZeniMax and Bookbreeze.com and their respective fans."

Now just to wait and see whether Redfall gets officially announced as being the title of Elder Scrolls 6… 

Original article continues below.

Remember that dispute over the Redfall trademark, otherwise known as the potential title for Elder Scrolls 6? Well, all that could be in the past very soon, as it looks like ZeniMax is trying to come to an agreement with BookBreeze.com about its use of the Redfall trademark. The update comes straight from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, where the documents linked to the Redfall trademark application state that Zenimax has requested the dates to be pushed back a month, because the “parties are engaged in settlement discussions”. Just look below to see what I’m talking about. 

“Settlement discussions” is a fancy way to say ZeniMax and BookBreeze.com are trying to get all of this cleared up without having to go through the stress of a long trademark dispute. If that happened each side would have to argue their own case for retaining the trademark... which could mean (according to the dates in the original trademark application) we have to wait until 2021 for information about Elder Scrolls 6’s official title

I had a chat with our legal department here at GamesRadar, and from an understanding about how this stuff works in the UK, "settlement discussions" will generally mean one of three things:

  • Both parties agree to enter into a coexistence agreement which allows them both to use the Redfall name (this would almost definitely involve ZeniMax making a payment to Book Breeze).
  • ZeniMax withdraws the application but enters into a license agreement (again involving them paying a fee) to Book Breeze.
  • ZeniMax pays a one-off sum for Book Breeze to withdraw their opposition and essentially go away.

Either way, you can bet that a ton of septims is going to be involved. Much more than you’ve got kicking around after spending hundreds of hours in Skyrim. If these discussions are successful, there’s a good chance that we’ll soon know for sure whether Redfall is the official title for Elder Scrolls 6, and if that is the case, we might even be getting some news about the sequel to Skyrim in the not-so-distant-future. But we’ll have to wait and see whether anything comes of these settlement discussions. You might want to get some comfy clothes on though because it’s going to be a long wait. Although that might be a good thing for the Elder Scrolls 6 engine.

Yeah yeah, you want more Elder Scrolls 6 goodness I know, but for now here’s the best Skyrim mods you should download on Xbox One, PS4 and PC, or watch the video below to see some hidden quests you might have missed in Skyrim (it is possible)

Zoe Delahunty-Light

While here at GamesRadar, Zoe was a features writer and video presenter for us. She's since flown the coop and gone on to work at Eurogamer where she's a video producer, and also runs her own Twitch and YouTube channels. She specialises in huge open-world games, true crime, and lore deep-dives.