The Elder Scrolls 6 Could Become the Next “Before GTA 6” Meme Target
Grand Theft Auto 6 is one of the most hotly anticipated games ever, and the long-running “We got X before GTA 6” internet meme is about to get a new target. This time, it looks like the joke will be aimed at The Elder Scrolls 6. Both Rockstar’s and Bethesda’s next entries have been in development for an eye-watering stretch of time, but the wait for GTA 6 at least seems close to ending—assuming this doesn’t somehow tempt fate. Rockstar has been slow with trailers and updates, but players waiting for The Elder Scrolls 6 have had it even worse.
Rockstar has already released multiple trailers, shared story-related details, and put out plenty of images for fans to dig through, plus it has opened GTA 6 pre-orders. Bethesda, meanwhile, has only shown a short 36-second teaser. That teaser aired eight years ago, and there’s no clear timeline for when the studio will reveal more about The Elder Scrolls 6. Once GTA 6 finally launches in November, The Elder Scrolls 6 is likely to become the next punchline for one of the biggest recurring memes in gaming culture.
As part of a broader leadership “reset” under new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, a new statement has been issued about what comes next for Bethesda and its flagship franchises.
“We Got X Before The Elder Scrolls 6” Could Be the Next Big Meme After GTA 6 Lands
The “We got X before GTA 6” meme has been spreading for years. It’s difficult to trace the exact moment it began, but it certainly reaches back to pre-COVID days. If you haven’t run into it before, the premise is simple: someone reacts to a major real-world event or a technological shift that feels too strange to have happened before GTA 6 even came out.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Gamoji
Guess the game from the emojis.
In the last six years alone, the world has changed dramatically compared to the pre-2020 era. Everything now feels split between a “before COVID” and “after COVID” reality, and GTA 6 is arriving during a cultural moment that feels far removed from the pop-culture landscape surrounding GTA 5. Early GTA 6 sales already suggest how strongly players want a fresh entry after more than a decade—and it also keeps feeding one of the internet’s longest-running jokes.
A Quick Timeline of What Happened While We Waited for GTA 6 and The Elder Scrolls 6
- The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped everyday life.
- The United States saw three different presidents: Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.
- There have been 17 separate iPhone releases.
- Vine shut down, and TikTok eventually filled the gap.
- Queen Elizabeth II passed away, and King Charles III took the throne.
- NASA successfully landed the Perseverance rover on Mars.
- Two console generations came and went.
- Over 30 MCU films have hit theaters.
- Space travel is closer to mainstream activity, with companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin helping push it forward.
- AI has advanced to the point where it’s among the most debated topics right now.
- Waymo introduced self-driving taxi services to the public.
- Artemis II completed a successful lunar fly-by.
That list is only scratching the surface. Since GTA 5 released, pop culture and society in general have shifted at a pace that feels almost alarming, and there’s still plenty of time for even more unexpected changes before November 2026 arrives. Rockstar still hasn’t shared additional GTA 6 specifics, and the rate of real-world change since 2013 also raises a question: could parts of the game end up feeling dated compared to what players are used to now?
Rumors Suggest The Elder Scrolls 6 Could Still Be Years Out—Plenty of Time for More Wild Changes
The gap between GTA 5 and GTA 6 is projected to be 13 years by the time the latter releases. The stretch between Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls 6 is rumored to run from 2011 to 2028 or 2029. A well-known insider, Jason Schreier, has claimed that The Elder Scrolls 6 likely won’t arrive for at least another two years, and that estimate could be optimistic. Given how slowly Bethesda appears to be moving, it could be even longer than that.
With everything that has happened since GTA 5, it’s impossible to predict what else might occur before The Elder Scrolls 6 finally launches. It’s even plausible that PS6 and the next Xbox generation could be available by then. That thought is hard to process, but unless Bethesda has a major surprise planned, a launch window in 2028/2029—or even sometime in the 2030s—feels like a realistic possibility.
There’s also the simple fact that both GTA 6 and The Elder Scrolls 6 are sixth installments in their respective series. It highlights just how much more complex and time-consuming development has become with each new cycle.
Bethesda may also end up inheriting the “We got X before GTA 6” meme even after The Elder Scrolls 6 debuts. After The Elder Scrolls 6, attention would then shift to Fallout 5. At the current pace, it would be reasonable to hope Bethesda brings in another studio to help speed things up for Fallout 5, but that outcome is far from confirmed.
The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5 Aren’t the Only Games Stuck in Limbo
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake
- Star Wars Eclipse
- Beyond Good and Evil 2
- BioShock 4
- Judas
- Star Citizen
A long development cycle isn’t automatically a bad thing. Plenty of games have gone through delays and major production shake-ups and still ended up being excellent. Titles like Pragmata and Dead Island 2 managed to make it through rough development periods. But The Elder Scrolls 6 is a different kind of challenge altogether. Skyrim is still extremely popular, which means expectations for Bethesda’s next chapter are extremely high.
Right now, it looks like the wait for more news about The Elder Scrolls 6 will continue. Big annual events like The Game Awards—held at the end of the year—are often where major announcements land, but Elder Scrolls fans may want to keep expectations grounded for a while. A new reveal still seems far off, and it will be interesting to see just how much the world changes before The Elder Scrolls 6 finally arrives.
