Bethesda has surprise launched The Elder Scrolls: Castles

Bethesda has shadow dropped a new mobile game set in the Elder Scrolls universe.

Available in early access for Android, The Elder Scrolls: Castles appears to be a Fallout Shelter-style simulation game.

“From Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning developer behind Skyrim and Fallout Shelter, comes The Elder Scrolls: Castles – a new mobile game that puts you in control of your very own castle and dynasty,” reads the game’s Google Play store listing.

“Oversee your subjects as the years come and go, families grow, and new rulers take the throne.”

Bethesda’s previous mobile releases include 2015’s construction and management sim Fallout Shelter, 2017’s digital card game The Elder Scrolls: Legends, and 2019’s RPG The Elder Scrolls: Blades, all of which are free-to-play.

Bethesda’s Todd Howard revealed last December that the studio was working on an unannounced mobile game.

In an interview with the Lex Fridman podcast, he said he was “in love” with the mystery project.

While not revealing specific details about the game, Howard suggested it would target younger players comfortable using mobile devices for relatively lengthy play sessions.

Bethesda released Starfield this month and the game attracted 10 million players within a few weeks, making it the studio’s biggest launch to date.

Further reading

Todd Howard says he’s ‘in love’ with an unannounced mobile game Bethesda is developing

It will seemingly target younger players who use mobile devices for lengthy play sessions

It’s currently working on a major update that will introduce “top community requested features” to the game, while official mod support will arrive in 2024.

Bethesda publishing boss Pete Hines said last month that Elder Scrolls 6 was “in early development”, but that fans shouldn’t expect more news about the game to be revealed until “a few years after” Starfield’s launch.