Xbox accidentally unleashes a wave of Elder Scrolls 6 hopium while trying to hype up GTA 6 and Forza Horizon 6: "Big year for games ending in 6"

The Elder Scrolls 6 has been a nugget of a concept of an idea in peoples' minds for so long that it doesn't take much to trigger strong fan reactions. Even vaguely alluding to games with the number six in the title is enough to stir up passionate speculation from Skyrim lovers, like some sort of sleeper agent activation code, as evidenced by Xbox's maybe unintentional slip up last night.

Just yesterday, Xbox announced that its annual Developer Direct showcase is returning later this month with extended looks at developer Playground Games' exciting Fable reboot and Japan-set Forza Horizon 6, plus a deep dive into Game Freak's new action-RPG Beast of Reincarnation.

Over on social media, one commenter says she's more excited for Forza Horizon 6 than the other big open-world mammoth scheduled for later this year. Anyone heard of a game called GTA 6? Regardless, Xbox perhaps innocently notes that 2026 is, in fact, a "big year for games ending in 6," no matter which you're into. Cars or criminally-acquired cars.

What reads as a throwaway comment trying to hype up two of the year's biggest upcoming games was instead taken as a deliberate tease by some. Reactions to the tweet from The Elder Scrolls 6 hopefuls were, um, what you'd expect. "Don't. Don't give me hope," one fan writes. "Please end our torment," another says. Agents, activated.

Things weren't much calmer over on Reddit, either. "God that hurts to read. That could genuinely be a little hint and it could also be absolutely unrelated to TES," says one fan, while another thinks the comment means "maybe TESVI gets a trailer later this year."

Either way, not to kill anyone's buzz, but I definitely wouldn't expect to see The Elder Scrolls 6 at this month's Developer Direct show. Heck, perhaps avoid the slippery Silksongmania rabbit hole altogether and don't expect to see The Elder Scrolls 6 until Todd Howard magically climbs down your chimney with a copy of the game just for you.

Todd Howard says Elder Scrolls 6 "most definitely" has more trees than Skyrim, and now I'm pinning Valenwood to the location conspiracy board.