Bethesda’s hugely anticipated and long-awaited fantasy role-playing game The Elder Scrolls 6 could be revealed “as soon as next month”, a new report has claimed – right in the midst of Microsoft’s ongoing restructuring efforts.

Per The Verge, this new Elder Scrolls adventure carries the subtitle “Sentinel”, which aligns with fan speculation, and the outlet corroborated prior reports that the game takes place within the Tamriel region of Hammerfell. The game reportedly touches on “history of the Elder Scrolls” and will “help uncover the secrets of these mysterious ancient artifacts”.

The Elder Scrolls 6 Teaser – E3 2018

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If the game is revealed next month – presumably The Game Awards in early December is a good place for it – it would mark eight years after The Elder Scrolls 6’s initial reveal trailer, and 15 years since the release of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. So, it’s certainly been a while, though it’s worth noting that The Elder Scrolls: Online has operated all through this period, to give fantasy fans something to bide their time with.

Asha Sharma, CEO of Xbox, said she’d played the game in August on a trip to the Bethesda offices, all while a giant inflatable rat and a union protest took place outside. Indeed, this reveal would take place shortly after Bethesda suffered job cuts – as did many other Microsoft-owned studios – as part of Xbox’s “reset”.

Xbox has been keen to keep fans optimistic of its prospects during what is undoubtedly a challenging time for the business. Yesterday, Sharma said there was “more demand than consoles available” when addressing a 14 percent dip in Xbox hardware sales. Microsoft’s latest 8-K filing – a mandated finance report publicly traded companies have to file to the SEC – states in plain terms that “Xbox hardware revenue decreased 29 percent driven by lower volume of consoles sold”.

Sharma has also pointed to the record performances of Minecraft and World of Warcraft: Forever’s open beta, and congratulated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 for having its “most acclaimed release in more than a decade”. But Xbox’s first-party release Gears of War: E-Day reportedly only sold more than 400,000 copies across Xbox and PC, following its day-one Game Pass launch. Analysts speculate that its presence on the service potentially cut into its full-cost sales.

All the while, we’re seeing studios decide to not sell their game on Xbox altogether due to the company’s presence on the BDS boycott list. Earlier this month, Big Walk’s developers declared the game would not come to Xbox because of Microsoft’s ties with Israel. And last night, both Celeste and Towerfall were removed from Xbox for the same reason.

So it’s safe to say that The Elder Scrolls 6, if it is revealed next month, will arrive into a very different world than the one it poked its head into almost a decade ago. Whether it can help Xbox turn things around: that’s the question.