One Dev Is Building Their Own Elder Scrolls RPG While TES6 Takes Forever
An animator and character designer started a solo RPG project called The Indie Scrolls in March 2026, documenting daily progress on X while Bethesda's next game remains dateless.
A Fan’s Answer to an Indefinite Wait
The Elder Scrolls 6 has no release date. No release window. Not even a vague promise of a release decade. For one developer, that absence became a starting gun.
Since March 2026, an animator and character designer has been building The Indie Scrolls, a solo RPG project inspired by Bethesda’s long-running fantasy series. As reported by Dexerto, the developer has been posting daily progress updates on X under the account @theindiescrolls, mostly in the form of short work-in-progress clips that document the game taking shape one sprite and one system at a time.
The pitch is straightforward and kind of charming. “Since TES 6 is [taking] forever to come out, I’ve been working on a project inspired by TES but in a Daggerfall visual key,” the developer wrote in May alongside the game’s first gameplay showcase. “The idea is to make a modern and updated RPG gameplay but with classic graphics… what do you think?”
Daggerfall’s Look, a Modern Design Philosophy
The visual reference point here is worth paying attention to. The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, released in 1996, had a particular kind of low-resolution, chunky sprite aesthetic that predated the fully 3D worlds Bethesda would go on to define. Choosing that as a foundation rather than chasing the cinematic presentation of Skyrim or Oblivion says something about the developer’s intentions. This is not an attempt to clone the modern Bethesda formula. It is something more personal, rooted in an earlier era of the series.
The combination of classic visuals with updated RPG mechanics is genuinely interesting as a design goal. Whether it holds together as a full game remains to be seen, but the daily update feed suggests a developer who is serious about the work rather than just posting concept art and calling it a project.
Recent updates shared on July 28 showed the developer on day 116, posting footage tagged with character testing labeled “Swordslady_v2.” Combat, movement systems, and character sprite animations have all been documented in the weeks prior, painting a picture of a game that is actively being built rather than endlessly prototyped.
The Race Nobody Asked For
There is an obvious question hanging over the whole thing. Will The Indie Scrolls actually reach players before The Elder Scrolls 6 does?
Based on what the developer has shared, the project still has meaningful ground to cover before it is ready for an audience. And based on everything Bethesda has communicated publicly, which is essentially nothing concrete, TES6 is not arriving anytime soon either. So the race is genuinely open.
What makes the project worth watching is less the competition angle and more the honesty of it. This developer is not pitching to investors or building a studio. They are filling a gap that exists in their own gaming life, and they are doing it publicly, one daily post at a time, starting from March and still going strong past the 100-day mark in late July.
The Elder Scrolls community has never exactly struggled for fan projects, mods, and spiritual successors born from impatience or devotion. But The Indie Scrolls stands out for the specificity of its inspiration, the consistency of its documentation, and the quiet absurdity of its premise. Bethesda is taking forever, so one person decided to just go ahead and make the thing.
Whether that ends with a finished game or a fascinating development diary is still an open question. Either way, day 116 has already happened. Day 117 is presumably underway.
What is The Indie Scrolls?
The Indie Scrolls is a solo-developed RPG inspired by Bethesda's Elder Scrolls series, specifically styled after the classic visuals of The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. The project was started in March 2026 by an animator and character designer who has been sharing daily development updates on X.
Why did the developer start making The Indie Scrolls?
According to the developer, the prolonged wait for The Elder Scrolls 6 motivated them to build their own game. They described TES6 as "taking forever to come out" and decided to channel that frustration into a creative project.
What kind of game is The Indie Scrolls aiming to be?
The developer describes the goal as making a "modern and updated RPG gameplay but with classic graphics," combining contemporary game design sensibilities with the retro visual style of Daggerfall.
How far along is The Indie Scrolls in development?
As of late July 2026, the developer was on day 116 of documented work. Recent updates have shown character sprite animations, movement systems, and combat features, but the project appears to still have a significant way to go before it is ready for players.