Last year, Bethesda parent ZeniMax registered a trademark for ‘Redfall,’ and while we haven’t seen that name used in any official marketing material, the safest bet is that it’ll be the subtitle of The Elder Scrolls VI. But the name is now at the centre of a trademark dispute that isn’t scheduled to resolve until August 2020. You probably shouldn’t be harboring any illusions about an Elder Scrolls VI release date before then, regardless.
Publisher BookBreeze.com has opposed the Redfall trademark, as the name has already been used by a novel series from author Jay Falconer. That was first picked up by YouTuber Skullzi TV, and GamesRadar pulled out a bit more detail. The final date on the trial schedule is set for August 2020.
After that article went live, Falconer tweeted in response that “My lawyers made attempts to contact gaming company to work out a simple licensing deal for them to use my Redfall name. They ignored me every time. Shame. Left me no choice. All could have been avoided. Just call my attorneys back.”
We don’t know for sure that the Redfall trademark is for Elder Scrolls VI, but it’s likely. Even more certain, however, is that we wouldn’t be getting TES6 before 2020 regardless of how this dispute ends up. We’ve heard that Elder Scrolls VI will be on the next console generation, and that it’s coming well after the Starfield release date.
If Bethesda holds with its usual three-year spread between major releases, that would put Starfield out in 2021, and Elder Scrolls VI out in 2024. A rough estimate, but one worth keeping in mind.
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The thing this could affect is marketing for The Elder Scrolls VI. If the subtitle is indeed intended to be Redfall, Bethesda may be reticent to detail that until this case is resolved. If Bethesda wants to talk about the upcoming game at, say, an E3 – and they could, given how early the studio announced the release – it’ll likely be without any real mention of that subtitle.