Pretty much out of nowhere, a new Elder Scrolls mobile game just dropped, and it’s basically Fallout Shelter, Skyrim-style.
The Elder Scrolls: Castles appeared with little fanfare on Google Play today. It’s listed as early access on the Google Play page, but it’s currently free to download and play on Android devices. Per the Google Play listing, Castles is “a new mobile game that puts you in control of your very own castle and dynasty. Oversee your subjects as the years come and go, families grow, and new rulers take the throne.”
Each day in real life spans an entire year in The Elder Scrolls: Castles, the listing says, and over the time, players train subjects, “name heirs, and maintain order to help your kingdom flourish.” The Elders Scrolls: Castles will also have quests that include “classic Elder Scrolls foes to collect valuable items and keep your kingdom growing.” You can see more in the slideshow below.
As mentioned, it all sounds very similar to 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.
While the launch itself is a surprise one, it’s not as if more work in the mobile arena hasn’t been teased by Bethesda. Last year, Bethesda’s Todd Howard teased that “we have a new mobile game that we’re working on that we haven’t announced yet that I am in love with.”
And while Bethesda released top-down-shooter mobile game Mighty DOOM in March, he did bring up doing a more in-depth, sitdown experience like that of Fallout Shelter: “We have found with our games, particularly Fallout Shelter, people will sit there for an hour or two,” he said at the time. “They will just sit there and play it. Large numbers of people will play it for hours a day.”
And Castles might be the only new Elder Scrolls we get for awhile. In the wake of Starfield’s release, Bethesda confirmed that The Elders Scrolls 6 was in early development, but the recent Microsoft/FTC leaks revealed it won’t come until at least 2026.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.