We’re used to video game companies announcing their upcoming games before they release them, but for The Elder Scrolls: Castles, Bethesda took the reverse route.
The Fallout and Skyrim developer quietly released The Elder Scrolls: Castles, a Fallout Shelter-style mobile game, on Android in September, where it remained playable up until the end of the year. The launch came without an announcement or any fanfare at all.
Now, Bethesda has finally announced The Elder Scrolls: Castles and soft-launched it on Android and iOS in the Philippines, with more countries set to get the game in the coming months.
“We’re excited to finally share The Elder Scrolls: Castles, our new mobile game from the team behind Fallout Shelter,” Bethesda said in a tweet. “The team has been hard at work on it for the last few years and we absolutely adore it.
“In Castles, you'll build your own dynasty where every day in our world is a year in the game's world. Citizens are born, they die, rulers change, and can be betrayed. This soft launch is one of the first steps as we get your feedback and make changes before it launches worldwide.”
As mentioned, Castles sounds a lot like Fallout Shelter, another Bethesda construction and time management sim initially released for iOS in 2015 that had players overseeing a Vault and the Dwellers in it. Fallout Shelter found enough success to be brought to Android later in 2015, then PC in 2016, Xbox One in 2017, and Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in 2018.
Castles may be the only new Elder Scrolls we get for a long while. In the wake of Starfield’s release, Bethesda confirmed that The Elder Scrolls 6 was in early development, but it’s not expected until 2028.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
